We are The Penguins
by Totally Kowalski
Summary: Human POM story. How The Penguins met and formed their group and coping with school and a secret organization. I accept constructive criticism.
1. The beginning

**I am attempting to make a humanized POM story so please bear with me, thank you!**

**Chapter 1**

_**Melman's POV**_

Hello, my name is Melman Mankiewicz and I live in New York City. A lot of crazy things have happened through my years here, but the most memorable thing that has happened is the brotherly bond of four boys in the face of danger who call themselves 'the penguins'. In attempts to find out more about these legendary 'NYC Penguins', I researched their families and school history; I found very little. I requested meetings with the four, even though I had no idea where they were. Finally it was Kowalski, now twenty years old, who answered my many letters. He came over one day to have lunch with me. A few weeks later, I had enough information to write a full story on them.

_**Flashback-**_

I nervously straightened my hair for the interview. Even though Kowalski is younger than me, I still felt intimidation. I glanced at the sandwiches I set out for us, hoping he liked tuna salad. A knock at the door made me jump.

"H-hey." I said once I opened the door. Kowalski smiled at me. "Please do come in. I'm glad you agreed to meet with me." He took off his coat and entered.

"Thank you, Melman." Kowalski said, brushing his long reddish-brown hair out of his eyes. "It was a bit of a drive to get here, but I quite enjoyed it. I love your house, it's so clean."

I laughed nervously and led him into the kitchen where we would be eating. He politely sat himself on my green chair and waited for me.

"Would you like something to drink?" I asked.

His azure blue eyes gazed into my brown ones, "Water would be fine."

I fetched the water for him and sat down. He took a bite out of the sandwich and smiled.

"Ready?" I asked; he swallowed and nodded. I took out my notebook and a pencil. "Okay, go."

_**Kowalski's Narration**_

The story I am about to tell is about four very different boys who learn to become friends, comrades, brothers. These four young boys, tossed into an organization of spies while trying to cope with their school lives. These boys are: sixteen year old Rico Shane Blue; twelve year old Andre Peter (Private) Davis; fifteen year old Percy Jonas (Skipper) Sorenson; and yours truly, Kowalski Benjamin Taro.

We live on the island of Manhattan, New York. Our school is located near Central Park, it is a school that combines junior high and high school; it spans three blocks. It is like a boarding school in the sense that we live on the property, but not at the school. There is an apartment building where students who don't live here can stay and attend Central Park High School, aka Central High.

At Central High, there are different groups of people or cliques. There are the following: The popular girls, the cheerleaders, the popular guys, the jocks, the tough bullies, the athletes, the nerds, the strange, the childish, the Goth, the socially awkward, and the avoided.

Some of these categories clash and some are related. Private fit into the childish and socially awkward categories; Skipper fit into the popular and athletic groups; I was mostly a nerd with a passion for swimming and somewhat socially awkward; and as for Rico…well he- I would say he definitely used to fit into the strange and socially awkward categories, but one that really stood out was the avoided. No one was in that group until Rico came along; It's kind of sad, really, he's a great guy and artistically talented. Some say that group was made for him; others say there shouldn't be social groups; as for me, I agree with anti-social group people.

Rico and his sister were raised in a small town in Illinois. They were a semi poor family; their father could barely afford to send his kids to school in New York.

Private came from England; his parents owned a restaurant near London. He's the only one of us four who is an only child.

Skipper came from…well, he moved a lot because his father was in the military. They finally settled on Long Island, New York. He had three older brothers and a sister.

As for me…I don't like to talk about it much. My brother and I were sent from Wisconsin to New York by our strict father.

I started attending Central High in seventh grade and my brother attended the local elementary school. I knew Skipper somewhat. We weren't the best of chums, but we had a fair amount of classes together.

Rico came when we were in eighth grade and the second semester of his ninth grade year. He was pretty quiet and mainly avoided.

Private began in sixth grade when Skipper and I were ninth graders and Rico in tenth grade.

We begin there, with Private's arrival at NYC Airport five years ago…

_**Third person POV**_

A family of three exited the plane and walked through the LaGuardia Airport in New York City. The man was wearing a white polo shirt and black pants. The woman was wearing a pink frilly shirt with flowers on it and a gray skirt. Their son was wearing a white T-shirt, black pants, and white tennis shoes. He wore his hoodie tied to his waist; his backpack shifted while he walked and he carried a bag with his laptop in it.

It was about five o'clock in the morning and the family was heading out of the airport with two small bags for the adults and a big, rolling travel case for the young boy.

"…going to be jolly good." The blond man was saying to his wife in a low, British accent.

"Yes, but he's so far from mummy." The woman said with the same accent, her light brown hair trailing on her back in a ponytail. "Look at the little sweetie."

"Mum, I'm fine." The young boy said, flashing a smile and shaking his bright blond hair out of his sky blue eyes. "Dad, tell her I'll be alright."

"Candy, our boy is growing up; he has to take care of himself." The man said, his bright blue eyes staring into his wife's light green ones.

"Andrew Raymond Davis, I do not want my baby staying halfway across the world without supervision." Candy said, glaring at Andrew.

"He'll be living in the apartments near the school. And besides, my friend Henry lives nearby and can help if Peter needs it." Andrew responded, "Ah, here he is now."

A tall man with red hair, a black suit, and shining green eyes smiled at them.

"Henry m'boy!" Andrew laughed, "Spanking great to see you lad! How's the missus?"

"She's doing well, Andrew. Elizabeth is at home with baby Sienna, you should all come visit. Hello Candace, pleasure to see you again." Henry said in an American accent, Candy smiled. "Little Liza's been asking about you, Andre. How old are you?"

"I'm twelve, Henry." Andre said with a smile. They followed him to his car. "Are we going to your house?"

"Yup, we sure are. Then I'm driving you to your new school." Henry replied.

Henry drove them to his house where his wife and daughters were still sleeping. Andre found the guest room and fell asleep.

Two hours later, he was being shaken awake.

"Andwe" A voice squealed in his ear. Andre woke to find two year old Liza standing next to the bed with a big grin. "Andwe go skoo." She said.

Andre couldn't help but smile, "Yes, Andre is going to school." he told her.

Andre changed into a blue shirt and a pair of gray pants. He put his shoes on and walked into the living room where his parents were waiting with Henry and his family.

"Here are your banana pancakes." Elizabeth said, giving Andre a small hug before leading him to the table.

"Thanks, Elizabeth." Andre said, he ate his pancakes hungrily and washed them down with some milk.

"Well, it's time to go." Andrew said, "Come on Pete; don't want to be late on your first day."

Andre nodded and followed his parents out to Henry's car. It was a nice, red minivan that gleamed in the sunlight. Candy smiled at her son and a few minutes later, they had arrived.

Andre Peter stared at his school with his mouth open. It was huge. There was a group of buildings in the middle which was the office, and to the right, there was the high school part of campus and on the left, the middle school. A giant field was barely visible as the British family entered the office.

A woman sitting at the desk looked up as they entered, "Hello, how may I help you?" she said, smiling at the twelve year old.

"Yes, I believe I spoke to someone about my son attending this school." Andrew said, "Andre Peter Davis, sixth grade."

She shuffled through some papers, "I think…Oh, here. Yes, he can go to the counselor's office to pick up his schedule. It's around this corner and I believe the counselor would be Charles Simmons."

Candace nodded and led the boys to the counseling office. Andre wiggled his arm from his mother's.

"Hello," A woman in a flowery top and black pants said, "Are you new here?"

Andre smiled shyly.

"We were looking for Mr. Simmons." Candace said.

"Ah, I believe he's out today, but I can get a schedule for your son." She smiled at Andre who began to gaze out the window. "I am the vice principal, Lauren Petrie."

She sat at a desk and began looking for the Davis's papers.

Andre looked at the many students who were beginning to show up. There was a tall boy with gray hair who was followed by a small eight year old and a chubby boy who looked the same age as him. The small boy hugged the tallest one who was dressed in fancy silk clothes and had a bowl on his head that was decorated with leaves and gold stickers forming the letter J. The tall one pushed the child off of him and complained to the chubby one who sighed.

Andre giggled at them. Then he saw a boy on a bicycle followed by another on a skateboard and a third with roller skates. The boy riding on the bike was wearing a white shirt, tie, black slacks and a dark blue jacket. The second boy was wearing army print pants and a green shirt. The third boy was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt with a picture of a stick of dynamite.

Andre was amazed, his mother never let him learn to ride a bike or skateboard and any type of skating was out of the question.

"Are they allowed to do that?" Candace gasped, looking horrified.

Ms. Petrie rushed over, "If they're not fighting, yes."

Andrew chuckled as his son pressed his nose to the glass.

The boy on the bicycle stopped, he pushed his glasses up his nose and smiled at the other two. The skateboarding boy was also stopped, his short, dark brown hair shifting in the breeze. But the third boy, who had a black hair, couldn't stop. The boy with the glasses hopped off his bike and put out a hand to the other. They grabbed each other and nearly toppled to the ground. The tallest one appeared to be the boy with glasses and reddish-brown hair; the second tallest was the one that nearly crashed into him; and the shortest was the boy on the skateboard.

"Wow." Andre breathed.

"No, no, no, a thousand times no." Candace said sternly, "Stay away from those boys if you can help it, they're a bad influence."

"Yes Mum." Andre said sadly.

"Actually," Ms. Petrie said, "Mr. Taro there, with the glasses, is one of the most gifted students in the school. And he's also a great big brother."

"Speaking of brother..." She said, spotting a small boy with reddish-brown hair and wearing a red t-shirt and blue jeans. "Hello Kenneth."

The boy placed a small paper on the front desk and turned to the group. "Oh, hi Ms. Petrie, how are you today?"

"I am doing very well, actually, I just thought of something for you if you don't mind." She said. "This young boy is a transfer student from Britain and I was wondering if you would be so kind as to show him around campus and the apartments."

"Uh, sure." The boy said, pulling a schedule out of his backpack. He walked over to Andre and compared schedules. "Hey, would you look at that, we have the same classes!" He said, his face splitting into a wide grin. "I'm Kenny!"

Andre smiled, "My name's Andre, pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Kenny looked confused, and then his expression brightened, "Ooo can't wait to taste it!"

Andre laughed, and Kenny laughed right along with him.

Andrew and Candace looked at their son happily, glad that he was already making a friend. A bell sounded and Kenny perked up.

"Alright, first period math!" he said, "Ready?"

Andre nodded, he hugged his parents and said goodbye; but the only problem was- his mother didn't seem to want to let go.

She finally released him when he claimed to be suffocating. Candace looked her son in the eyes and smoothed his hair. "Now, be a good boy," she said, "and if you feel the need to come home that is alright with me."

"Candace." Andrew said, rolling his eyes, "Our son's a big boy, he can take care of himself. And we don't want to make these young men late for class now."

Candace nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. Andre felt a gentle tug and followed Kenny out of the office. Ms. Petrie told them that she would inform the teacher and the tardy wouldn't go on the record.

Andre was so happy he made a new friend already; he looked back and saw the boy on the skateboard staring at him. Nervous, he skipped ahead and followed Kenny.

**A/N: So, what'd you think? **

**Constructive criticism accepted.**


	2. Andre's crazy first day

They entered a two story building which had glass double doors and the inside walls were a nice beige color. There were paintings lining the walls, some were animals and others were objects.

"Art class, the teacher is so enthusiastic; she offered to do a mural for the newly renovated building." Kenny said, noticing Andre's awestruck look. "Though that was seven years ago, you can see where it's faded a little."

Andre nodded, and then he remembered something, "You seem really eager to go to math class, do you like math?"

"Eh, not really," Kenny said, "But the teacher is so fun, he has these crazy stories that he tells us and he makes the lessons fun. Did you know there's a song about a formula? My brother told me there is."

"Your brother rides here on a bicycle, right?" Andre asked.

Kenny nodded, "Do you ride bikes?"

Andre shook his head sadly.

"What?!" Kenny exclaimed, "They don't have bikes in England?"

"Oh, we do." Andre assured him, "And skateboards, roller skates, scooters and things of that nature, but…my mum is…er…protective."

"I think I caught some of that." Kenny said. "So how did she let you come to school all the way across the Atlantic ocean? Did you bribe her or something?"

"No, it took so much begging, pleading, and crying on my part." Andre said. "My dad kept trying to convince her that there were great opportunities, and my family and friends helped me talk her into it. She wants Dad's friend to keep an eye on me, but I think I can do this. I want to have an adventure. Mum wouldn't even let me play on the playground without someone supervising me."

"Did you fall off the monkey bars?" Kenny asked.

"Once. Only once, and all I had was a slightly scraped knee. I only cried for a minute, but my mum worried for years. I told her that I was six and I still had wet hands from washing up after lunch."

"Six years and she hasn't let go yet?"

"Nope. On the plane, she gave me an extensive list of things to avoid. I threw it away when she wasn't looking. Is your mum like that?"

Kenny turned pink and his head snapped to the light turquoise tiles.

Andre looked nervous, "I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to offend you."

Kenny slapped on a grin, "Hey, it's okay buddy, you didn't know…my mother died when I was a baby and my father was left with us." He said the last words bitterly, but tossed it aside as they reached a green door. "We're here!"

"Thanks." Andre said, giving Kenny a consoling pat on the back. Kenny gave him a warm smile and entered the classroom.

"Hey-o!" Kenny said.

"Kenny." The teacher said sternly, his brown hair parted neatly. "I was talking. You know the penalty for interrupting, right?" he stared dangerously.

Kenny looked nervous, "N-no, wh-when was there one?"

The teacher walked over to them slowly, "The penalty is…"

He stared Kenny in the eyes; Andre gave a squeak of fright.

"NOTHING!" He shouted with a grin plastered over his face. Andre yelped and Kenny sighed heavily.

"Then what'd you do that for?" Andre said, his face turning red. The whole class roared with laughter and Kenny fought to keep a straight face.

"I was just seeing if I could scare the living daylights out of the new kid!" He said, turning to a very confused Andre. "So, what do you think?"

"…What do I think?" Andre said, "I think…you're insane."

The teacher's expression turned to an offended and hurt look. "I think I might cry…"

"What?" Andre said, startled, "No wait, I-I didn't m-mean…hang on, are you pulling my leg again?" he said, noticing the smile on the man's face.

"Alright, you did great." He said, "The name's Randy Campbell, and no I am not related to the soup guy. Now, let's learn math or Lauren will chew me out again…and Jeannie. But first, everyone introduce yourselves to Andre please."

The students stood up one by one and smiled at Andre.

"Steve" "Ramona" "Jackie" "Marvin" "Terrence" "Jackson" "Lin" "Lee" "Bailey" "Zoe" "Allie" "Alan" "Barry" "Danielle" "Nicole" "Sophia" "Raj" "Xavier" "Nathan" "Kenny" "Harvey" "Megan" "Rose" "Calvin" "Emily" "Frank" "Gabrielle"

Andre sat next to a girl with blond hair that reminded him of eggnog. Her eyes were pale green and she wore a blue skirt with a matching sweater. He took notes and glanced at Kenny who was staring at the board with a confused look.

Mr. Campbell finished his lecture and set the class to do homework; Kenny approached him with a notebook and they began chatting.

"He has dyslexia." The girl said in a shy voice, noticing that Andre was concerned.

Andre nodded but when he looked at the girl, she was busy in her math book.

"I like your jumper." Andre commented while doing homework.

She looked up at him, "Thanks, I'm Allie."

"Andre."

They smiled at each other, and then Andre was called to the teacher's desk. Kenny walked by him with a smile and a filled notebook.

"I'm glad to see you're socializing." Mr. Campbell said calmly. "How are you doing in math?"

"Reasonably well, sir." Andre said.

"Okay, I'm not going to give you the test tomorrow, but you can definitely start next chapter."

Andre nodded, "Thanks." He said warily.

"Don't worry; when I'm in the professional zone, it's all good." Mr. Campbell said, "Don't worry; I want to be silly because I teach sixth graders all morning and fourth graders after lunch. There is one fourth grader who is way sillier than me."

"Really?" Andre said, "I'd like to meet this child."

"Well, if you're living in the apartments, you will."

"He lives there? But he's only ten years old."

"Well, his guardian goes to school here, so he has to stay."

"Oh, why does he have a teenage guardian?"

"I don't know, but Maurice is pretty good."

"Alright then, I will meet Maurice and the other boy later."

"And another boy."

Andre wanted to ask who, but the bell rang and Kenny pulled him along. "How'd math go?"

"Good, er…Allie told me you had dyslexia." Andre said.

"Ah, yeah, one of the reasons my dad can't stand me." Kenny sighed, "Anyway, do you have questions before we head off to History?" he asked as they gathered their things.

"Mmhm, who's Jeannie? And do I have to remember everyone's names?" Andre asked walking with Kenny out of the classroom and down the hall; Allie and Ramona trailed behind them, chatting.

"Oh, Mr. Campbell's rival, she teaches history. Her classroom is across the hall from him. Everyone thinks the two are secretly in love with each other and the neither one knows if the other feels the same." Kenny grinned, "According to rumor swapping girls. And no, you don't have to remember people's names."

"Do I have her for history?" Andre wondered as they turned the corner.

"No, Jeannie Sullivan teaches eighth grade history, we have Mrs. Chang." Kenny pointed to a door on the right end of the hallway, "And here we are."

The boys entered the classroom to find it shrouded in darkness.

"Take a candle." A voice said quietly, the boys jumped.

There were glowing sticks on the front desk and many students already had one. Kenny shrugged to Andre, but remembered that it was too dark to see much except for daylight from the partially blinded windows.

Andre squinted, trying to see where Kenny was when someone grabbed his wrist and gently pulled.

"This way." A female voice said. Andre followed her and was given a glowing candle. The girl held the light to her face, it was Allie.

Andre smiled and a lamp clicked on. He saw Mrs. Chang sitting at her desk, waiting for the class to be seated.

Allie disappeared for a moment, and then came back with a big object which turned out to be a chair. Andre sat in the chair while Allie sat at her desk.

"Since we are studying ancient history, I thought it would be interesting to stimulate a classroom environment." Mrs. Chang said. "They would have candles and daylight. This lamp symbolizes an oil lamp which I do not have. Now, before we turn the lights on, can anyone tell me what they would use for writing?"

Many students raised their hands, including Allie.

"Okay, my flashlight will pick who goes." Mrs. Chang said. She shone the light and it fell across Andre's chest.

"Me? Um, well they used to have quills and parchment. But in ancient times, maybe chalks or clay on wood or they carved into stone." He answered.

"That is correct, great job!" The teacher said, moving away from her desk to turn on the lights. A flood of light surrounded them and Allie was smiling at Andre. Kenny was in the seat not too far from them. "Take your usual seats."

The class moved around and Andre was left standing with the chair. He spotted another chair and placed his next to it. Then he faced the class.

"Er, I'm Andre…" he said shyly, "And I'm from England…I suppose you haven't studied it yet...um…hi…"

He searched the class and saw fourteen familiar faces from his math class including Allie.

"You seem nice and normal," A smaller girl piped up, "my brothers could learn a thing or two from you."

The class laughed.

"I'm Ramona." She added.

"Andre."

Mrs. Chang found a seat for Andre next to a boy wearing an orange shirt and purple pants.

"Hey new British boy, or is it England?" The boy asked scratched his head.

Andre gave him a puzzled look, "Er, they're the same thing and it's Britain, British are the people who inhabit the country."

"And bugs inhabit Barry's brain." A boy whispered from behind Andre.

"Shut it, Quincy." Barry growled. "If I was a poison dart frog, you would be frozen stunned and I would eat your brain which is made of dead flies."

Mrs. Chang cleared her throat loudly and the boys focused their attention on her. The lesson was, in Andre's opinion, very interesting. He noticed that Barry doodled on his notebook, hardly paying attention. Kenny tried to pay attention, but he wasn't writing what was on the board because of his dyslexia. Allie, however, was taking everything seriously and copying what seemed like every word that came out of Mrs. Chang's mouth. She reminded Andre of a girl he'd seen in a movie, but he couldn't quite remember.

The end of the period came much to Barry's delight. He jumped up and sped out of the room.

"Don't forget the homework!" She called after the class. "Nathan, would you inform Barry please?" The addressed boy nodded his head.

Ramona waited at the door for Allie to finish the last of her highlighting. Andre decided to wait for Kenny.

"Ten minute break." Ramona said, "Then third period."

Andre nodded, watching Allie smooth her papers carefully before tucking them away in her binder. Kenny was still talking to Mrs. Chang and writing in his History notebook.

"How many brothers do you have?" Andre asked.

"Three." Ramona answered. "Samuel and Bradley, they're in fifth grade. And Egbert, everyone calls him Eggy and he's in fourth grade."

"Like that boy who's being supervised by Maurice?" Andre said, much to Ramona's surprise. "Mr. Campbell told me."

Ramona nodded, "The ten year old is Mort and the other boy is Julien. Julien's father owns the apartments and he donated money to the school." she sighed, "The downside is that Julien thinks this makes him royalty and he orders us around."

Andre frowned; he didn't like the sound of that. He wondered if he would get along with Julien but very much doubted it.

"Alright buddy, let's go!" Kenny said.

Andre watched Allie and Ramona leave together. He made to follow them but was stopped by Kenny.

"Sorry Andre, they have PE, we have Science." Kenny said, grinning.

Science class today turned out to be a lab. They were mixing different chemicals for reactions, but Andre had to sit out on this one with the promise that he could join next time. He made himself useful by reading the questions out loud to Kenny who didn't have a partner.

"No one wants to sit with the dyslexic kid." Kenny said sadly.

Andre smiled, "I'm your friend now, right?"

Kenny nodded and proceeded with the experiment.

Later, the boys headed off to PE class.

"Ah, physical education, will you ever cease to exhaust me?" Kenny sighed.

Andre laughed. Since he hadn't purchased gym clothes yet, he simply put his jacket in his backpack and shoved it into Kenny's locker.

"It's your first day; I don't think they'll be harsh on you." Kenny assured Andre. "Here, wear my shorts." He shoved the gym shorts into Andre's hand.

Andre made a face. "Er…You've been wearing them all week, right?" He asked.

"It's Monday." Kenny said, "I washed them yesterday, besides, I have these shorts."

Andre shrugged and changed from his pants into Kenny's gym shorts.

"They fit well." He remarked. "Alright, it'll do until I get my own."

"Hey, when are you moving into the apartments?"

"My parents are moving my things there; I'll be on my own to find my room."

"Hey, I'll help."

"Thanks." Andre smiled and followed Kenny to the football field.

They saw some high school kids playing basketball on the courts near them and other kids were walking the track.

"Skip, I'm open!" Kenny's brother shouted, waving to his friend who was now in gym clothes.

"They have PE in the same period as us."

"Well, we meet again." A voice said.

The boy zipped up to them and put his arms around their shoulders. "Nice to see you again, Britain."

Andre laughed. "Barry, please call me Andre."

"Alright, sorry." Barry said. "I wonder if you're my new roomie, mine are weird."

"Hurtful." Kenny said grumpily.

"STUDENTS!" A deep voice called from their right, it was a man with a buzz cut. "First, we have a new kid in our class, Andre. Andre, my name is Coach Forrest."

Andre waved shyly.

"Now, it's the day we've been waiting for, the first game of the year."

"And it's not Quidditch." Barry whispered.

Kenny and Andre tried not to burst out laughing.

The teacher eyed them. "As I was saying," he continued, "Coach Wilton has agreed to have his ninth grade class play a basketball game against you sixth graders. Everyone, get warmed up on the courts." He signaled for them to follow him.

"I'm from Tiverton, Devon. I went to Two Moors Primary School, not Hogwarts." Andre added to Barry as they followed the class.

"Two doors? Gee, fire hazard much?" Barry said. Kenny snickered.

"It didn't literally have two doors and I said Moors."

"That's pretty cool." Kenny said.

Andre was too busy shaking his head to see where he was going. He smacked into someone and nearly fell down. Luckily, Barry and Kenny were right behind him.

"Watch where you're going! You almost made de meat of my crown." The boy said.

"I'm sorry." Andre said. "And did you say that's a crown?"

"Yeah, you going to be insulting it?" The boy asked, peering at Andre.

"Julien, leave him alone." Kenny said, rolling his eyes.

"Is this the guy who thinks he's a king?" Andre asked.

"Hey bub, I am de king!" Julien said. "And you tiny sixth graders are being on my turf."

Barry rolled his eyes. "I have no respect for you, honest, I don't."

Julien huffed and walked to the benches.

"Andre." Coach Forrest said. "Have you ever played basketball before?"

"Er, not really." Andre said.

"Don't worry, watch the first team, then I'll put you in."

"Seriously?" Andre said, his mouth dropped in shock. "B-but I just got here."

"Bet you're still a bit jet lagged." The teacher winked. "No worries, you'll be fine."

Andre smiled nervously as the game started. Barry was terrible; he kept losing the ball and getting fouled. Kowalski was slightly better, he had the agility to zip around everyone, but he couldn't make a shot. Julien barely participated.

"Lemur for brains, GET MOVING!" One of his classmates shouted. It was the boy who was on the skateboard earlier.

"Who's that?" Andre asked.

"Skipper, he's pretty tough." Kenny said. "But I guess he's a good roommate, not that my brother says anything."

"Your brother's roommates with him?" Andre asked.

"For about a year. The first year he came, he couldn't change rooms and got stuck with Julien. He managed to switch to a temporary room until they were ready for him."

"And he doesn't tell you about Skipper?"

Kenny shook his head.

"Davis, Taro, get in there." Coach Forrest said.

Kenny bounded onto the basketball court while Andre trailed behind.

"Haven't you played basketball before?" Kenny whispered.

"My mum wouldn't even let me ride a tricycle." Andre said pointedly. "And I asked her when I was six."

"Wow. You've been watching, right?"

"A bit."

"You'll be fine. Just don't throw it to anyone who looks bigger than you or is blocked by someone bigger than you. And dribble so you don't get fouled. Though, that happens more in a real game, we're just playing for fun."

"What if I get tackled?"

"That's football; I'm guessing your mom wouldn't let you join any sport."

"You'd be right."

Kenny shook his head as a whistle blew.

Andre tried to avoid the ninth graders, but somehow he ended up with the ball. He stood there, staring at everyone until Kenny shouted something.

He dribbled the ball and looked for anyone who was open.

"Over here!"

Andre threw the ball absentmindedly in the direction of the voice.

"Thank you." Julien said with a mocking laugh. He threw the ball to a teammate and continued laughing. "I got you, you were so stupidfied." A few of the ninth graders laughed. Skipper pretended not to notice and Kowalski frowned at Julien.

"Leave him alone, butt munch!" Barry shouted. Kenny stuck his tongue out at Julien.

Andre turned red with embarrassment and ran to the top of the benches, refusing to play the rest of the game.

The final whistle came a while later and everyone was exhausted. The kids trooped back to the locker rooms. Andre heard one girl chattering away to her sweaty friend, but he opted to remain where he was.

"Come on, Andre." Kenny said. "Julien's a big doofus, don't listen to him."

"Kenny." Kowalski called. "Hurry up or all the good food will be taken."

"Yeah, get a move on, soldier!" Skipper said.

Andre sighed and followed Kenny to the locker room.

"Come on, Julien's stupid. I think you did well."

"Yeah, until you messed up." Julien's voice rang out.

Barry growled at him.

"Down boy, down." Kenny joked.

Barry whipped around angrily. "Well EXCUSE ME for trying to stick up for a friend." He hissed.

"Gee, don't get your gym shorts in a twist." Kenny said. "I was only trying to keep you from killing Julien."

"Barry, it's alright. I'm fine." Andre said.

"Yeah, well I'm not." Barry said. "I hate losing to HIM and we could have won if it wasn't for YOU."

"Barry, calm-"

"Shut it Kenny, I'm not talking to either of you!" He slammed his locker shut and stomped out of the room.

Andre was on the verge of tears.

"Dude, no one's blaming you." Kenny said. "Not even Barry, trust me. He gets hot headed and forgets that it's only a game."

"Yeah, I'm not pointing de finger of blame. I am offering congratulations." Julien said.

"I want to point a finger at you so badly." Kenny said, gritting his teeth.

"Oh come on, your friend is just jealous that we are the best."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"You want to go, pal?!"

"Okay, where are we going?"

"To the land of bloody NOSE!" He lunged at Julien, only to be caught by Kowalski and Skipper. Andre also had a hand on Kenny's shirt and was dragging him back.

"Ehe, BYE!" Julien zoomed out as fast as his legs could carry him.

Kenny showed every sign of wanting to destroy Julien.

"Kenny, stop!" Kowalski said. "Oh, I'm getting too old for this."

"You're the same age as me!" Skipper said.

"Kenny, listen to your brother. I can wait for Barry to calm down; I just want you to stay my friend, okay? Please." Andre said, feeling more tired than he was a few minutes ago.

Kenny sighed and stopped fighting. He turned to his locker and finished putting his clothes in the locker, and then he grabbed his backpack and left the room.

"Uhh…" Andre looked at the two ninth graders. "See you in PE!" he ran out after Kenny.

"He's a bit odd."

"Yeah, but I like to keep an open mind. Keep an eye on the kid, will you?"

"Not looking for recruits, are we?"

"Maybe."

Andre looked back at the closing door and shook his head.

"Hey." He said as he found Kenny behind the stairs.

"Sorry, I just got upset." Kenny said.

"It's alright, but violence is never the answer." Andre said. "But thanks for sticking up for me."

"No problem, pal." Kenny said with a smile. "Now it's lunch time!"

"My mum made me lunch. I bet it's a healthy salad." Andre rolled his eyes as they walked to the cafeteria. "And some water."

"Wow, don't they have hamburgers or pizza in-"

"Yes, there's a lot of things in both countries, but my mum worries about me so she never lets me eat candy or pizza or-"

"WHAT?!" Kenny shouted, attracting stares of their fellow students. "No pizza?! That's a crime against humanity!"

"I've tasted it before, but my mum got upset and started telling me that I need to watch my weight…I was three."

Kenny gave him a deadpan stare. "A three year old can't know the joys of eating pizza? TELL me she let you eat cake on your birthday."

"Sugar free."

"Sugar- SUGAR FREE?! WHERE IS SHE?! I'll MARCH RIGHT UP TO HER AND TELL HER-"

"Kenny." Andre squeaked as every eye turned on them.

Kenny froze and looked around nervously, "Hehe…cranky stomach?"

Andre pulled Kenny to the lunch line. "Please calm down."

"Sorry." Kenny muttered, turning red.

"Shall I find a seat?"

"Yeah, there's some outside." Kenny whispered.

"Okay, I'll find some." Andre said.

He exited the cafeteria and found an empty table near a shaded tree. He happily sat down and pulled out his lunch.

"Hi there." An older girl said, approaching him. "You must be new." She said with a forced smile.

"Yes, how'd you know?"

"Because that's our table." She snapped coldly. Five more girls came from behind and looked at Andre oddly.

Andre looked taken aback. "Really? There wasn't anybody here when I-"

"I don't care." She said. "Either you get off or we'll force you to get off." She indicated two burly looking boys approaching.

"Now, I hardly think that's necessary-"

"Hey, this guy bothering you?" one of the guys asked, glaring at Andre.

"He's not leaving." The girl huffed.

"Listen pipsqueak, this is the cool kids table." The boy said. "The baby table is anywhere you can find a nerd or another baby middle school kid."

"But isn't the rule of firsties that whoever gets here first gets it?" Andre said. "That's what I learned in kindergarten."

"Are you saying we're stupid?" The older boy asked, flaring up immediately.

"N-No, not at all." Andre said nervously. "I just-"

The boy took Andre's salad and flung it into some bushes. It burst open and salad fell to the ground and stuck in the bush.

"That was my lunch…" Andre grumbled. "That wasn't very nice."

"What, you going to put us in timeout?" The boy asked, pulling Andre up by the front of his shirt.

"Hey, let go!" Andre said. "Kenny!"

Kenny had just looked out the window with his pizza and gasped. He ran out and crashed into one of the girls, his pizza splattering her shirt.

"OH MY GOSH, YOU SHRIMP! YOU JUST RUINED MY FAVORITE OUTFIT!"

"I guess we'll be roasting two shrimps." Another boy growled grabbing Kenny's shirt from behind.

"BACK." A rough voice said loudly. The voice belonged to a boy with messy black hair and blue eyes which were filled with fury. The boy also had a scar on the side of his face. He looked intimidating in his dark jeans and black t-shirt with a picture of a stick of dynamite on it.

"Look, it's Freako!" One of the girls squealed.

"That's not nice." Andre said.

"Shut it, what do you want?" The larger boy said, still holding Andre.

"Rico, help!" Kenny said, trying to wiggle free.

"Aww, the crybaby wants help. Don't you two know anything? Rico's a deadly weapon. He's psycho and could turn on us at any moment." His captor said.

The girls squealed and ran away as Rico stomped up to the boys. He was almost as tall as them, but he was keeping his stance as he stared furiously at them.

"What are you going to do about it, punk?" The first boy said. "I'm a tough senior and you're the freak stain of the freshman year."

"He's a sophomore!" Kenny shouted.

"Do I care? No."

"Down." Rico growled, pointing to Andre.

"Oh, I'm sorry." The boy dropped Andre to the ground. Andre scooted backwards. "I guess I'll just have to-"

BAM!

His fist collided into Rico's head, sending the younger boy stumbling. Rico shook his head and jumped on the bigger boy.

The other boy dropped Kenny and went to assist his friend. A crowd started to gather.

Rico was tripped from behind and fell to the ground.

The crowd started yelling in favor of the two seniors.

"Come on, let's go." Kenny said. "We don't want to be part of-"

"No, it's my fault." Andre said, pushing through the crowd. "STOP IT! STOP IT!"

"THIS FIGHT WILL CEASE IMMEDIATELY." A deep voice came across a bullhorn.

Fearing that this might be a school official, the students fled the scene. Finally, the two boys were standing over Rico who was semiconscious.

Andre and Kenny had retreated next to the vending machine.

"How was that?"

"Perfect, thanks Maurice." Skipper said, taking the bullhorn from the older boy. Kowalski and Julien were behind them.

Maurice glared at the other seniors. "You do realize that I'm captain of the football team, right?" He said. "Therefore I have the power to kick you off the team."

"You can't do that!" One of the boys said.

"Oh yes I can." Maurice said. "And I'm reporting you to the principal."

The boys muttered darkly and walked away.

Skipper and Kowalski helped Rico up.

"Hey, take him to the nurse, will you?" Skipper said to Maurice.

"No, he is to do my bidding." Julien said.

Maurice rolled his eyes, "Your father told me to make sure you studied, not to be your servant."

"Blah blah, what is the difference, really?" Julien said, "Oh fine, if we must." He sighed, giving in to the glares. "But I am not touching him. He has weirdo germs."

Maurice scowled and helped Rico to the nurse with Julien following behind.

"Kenny, get back here." Kowalski said, eyeing the two boys who were trying to sneak away.

"You too, young Private." Skipper said, peering at Andre.

"B-but my name's Andre." Andre said softly.

"Sure, kid." Skipper said. "Nothing like a fight to start your first day of school. Not that you did much, you'd need lessons."

"No, I hate violence." Andre said.

"Never say never, Private." Skipper said. "Anyway, you two better get your story straight, here comes the head of discipline." He pointed to an unhappy looking man in a suit.

"It's Andre."

"Right."

"Andre Davis and Kenneth Taro, follow me." The man said.

**A/N: Let me know your thoughts…**


	3. I think I like it here

Kenny groaned. "Some first day, huh buddy?"

Andre didn't answer. He was too upset and hungry to notice that they were in an office already.

"Taro, I was told you threw a pizza at someone." The man said.

"No sir, I ran out to stop them from creaming Andre and I accidentally bumped into her. I swear I didn't mean to." Kenny said. "I'd swear it, but swearing isn't allowed in school. Honestly Mr. Bennett, we're innocent victims."

"You're a pretty believable kid." Mr. Bennett said. "But I'll need your part of the story." He said, switching his stern gaze to Andre.

Andre proceeded to explain that he'd been sitting, waiting for Kenny when the seniors demanded that he move. He said he just wanted to ask why he wasn't allowed to sit where he wanted and they just lost their temper. Then Rico had come and saved his face from being punched in.

"Rico isn't going to be expelled, is he?" Kenny said. "That guy threw the first punch, not Rico."

"Yeah, and you're not going to tell my mother are you?" Andre asked nervously.

"Unfortunately, yes." Bennett said. "It's my job to alert parents to what occurred. Rico is not expelled. I will tell them your story and that you two are not in trouble, but I don't want either of you in any more fights."

"Yes sir." Andre said.

Kenny shifted uncomfortably. "Y-you're not going to call my dad are you?" he whispered.

"It is down to the rule book that I must." He noticed Kenny's face grew pale. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes." Kenny said in a barely audible whisper.

"Did you two eat lunch at all?"

Andre shook his head.

"I'll be right back." He said, exiting the room.

"I'm sorry." Andre said.

Kenny didn't respond.

Andre thought he might be angry over losing his pizza.

"Excuse me." The door opened and a girl peeked in. "I've been told to bring you two somewhere." She said.

Kenny stood up silently and nodded. Andre followed both of them to part of the high school.

The girl had dark brown hair in a ponytail and light brown eyes.

"You two are lucky that there's a pizza lunch for the ASL club." She said. "We'll let you have pizza if you promise to give our club a try when you come to high school."

Andre smiled, "I will. By the way, who are you?"

"The name's Marlene." She said, leading them up the stairs. "So what did you two do anyway?"

"Some seniors were bullying us." Kenny muttered. "Actually, him." He pointed to Andre. "I did a poor job of helping. Rico came to help, and then it turned into a fight."

"Rico…he sounds familiar."

"He was here last semester." Kenny said.

"I guess I never met him." Marlene said, opening a door. "Hey everyone!" She said. "These two are going to join us for today."

Andre also noticed she was moving her hands unusually. He saw a few kids with some devices in their ears and they were watching Marlene carefully as the three entered the room.

"Er…" Andre said. "Hi, I uh…I'm Andre." He kept becoming distracted by Marlene's hand movements.

"And I'm Kenny." Kenny said as if this didn't bother him at all.

A boy towards the other room signed something.

"I know you from the dorms, Kowalski's brother, right?" Marlene said.

Andre was confused, of course she knew Kenny was Kowalski's brother, but Marlene was looking at the boy.

"Yeah, I saw you this morning. How's it going, Phil?" Kenny said with a smile.

Again, Marlene moved her hands while Kenny spoke, but Phil was looking at her instead of Kenny.

"Fine, how about you?" Marlene spoke.

Andre stared at Kenny. Kenny had formed his hand into a 'c' as if he was holding a cup to his chest and then slid it down. He also had an expression on his face that suggested that he might be hungry.

Phil grinned and gestured to some tables that had pizzas on them.

Kenny put his hand on his chin and then brought it down which caused the other boy to nod. Then Kenny grabbed a piece of pizza.

Andre was completely lost.

"What just happened?" he asked.

Kenny blushed sheepishly, he had forgotten about Andre.

"ASL stands for American Sign Language." Marlene explained while moving her hands. "What I'm doing right now is signing for the deaf people in the room."

"Deaf? So they can't hear me?"

"No, but some can read your lips. I was interpreting Phil's signs for you and Kenny, and Kenny's words for everyone else."

"Phil's deaf?" Andre said, looking over at the boy who was having a signed conversation with his friend.

"Hard of hearing, but he relies on sign language to communicate because he can't speak. He had vocal problems as a baby and couldn't speak after the age of two."

"Oh, Kenny knows sign language?"

"Phil lives in the apartments so I pick up a few things." Kenny said.

"Oh." Andre said. He smiled at everyone and grabbed a slice of pizza. He sat down next to Kenny. "What an interesting day." He said, taking a bite. He gasped with wide eyes.

"What? Too hot?" Kenny asked.

"This is the best thing I've ever tasted." Andre said. "Mum told me not to eat pizza, but…Mum's not here!"

Phil's friend laughed. "Really, you've never had pizza?" he asked.

Phil gasped and signed something.

"Did I just hear never and pizza in the same sentence?" His friend said.

Kenny nodded, "Yes, Mason and Phil, this is true."

Andre grinned. "You don't know my mum. Hey, did I hear a British accent?"

"Yup." Mason said. "The name's Mason, I'm from Wales. My family moved here when I was seven."

"Devon." Andre said with a wider smile. "I actually got here this morning. I think it was around 4:00."

Phil signed something questioningly to Mason and Kenny laughed. Mason rolled his eyes.

"What?" Andre said.

"Phil said: Your parents are whales?" Kenny said.

"Oh, because it looks the same on the lips, right?" Andre said.

"Yes, this is why lip-reading is hard sometimes." Kenny said.

Mason nodded in agreement.

By the end of lunch, Andre had learned the alphabet and how to sign 'hi, my name is Andre' as well as a few other signs.

The two younger boys headed back to the middle school, passing the senior girls as they went. Kenny returned the glares they gave him and Andre pretended not to notice.

"Aw man, I forgot." Kenny said. "Andre, I didn't notice we have different English classes. I actually have to go see a teacher who helps me with my dyslexia and I have a tutor two times a week."

"It's alright, where do I go?"

"I don't know, I haven't been there yet…I think it's over there."

Andre headed off in the direction Kenny pointed and asked for directions on the way. However, he became lost when he entered the building.

"Andre?" A girl said. "Over here."

"Ramona, you're in my class?" He asked.

She looked at his schedule for a moment. "No, this is AP English, your class is right down the hall. Look for a teacher with curly brown hair; I think she's wearing a green dress today. Also, we have study hall together last period."

"Thanks." Andre said, hurrying off. He managed to find the classroom about two minutes after the bell. The teacher said she'd let him off because it was his first day.

English class wasn't too bad; the teacher seemed nice, but strict if you got on her bad side. Andre was a bit nervous without Kenny there. He asked the teacher who said that Kenny was trying to pass a special instruction class so he could be in sixth grade English. If he passed this semester, he'd be able to join the class next semester.

Andre met Ramona after class so that they could go to Study Hall.

"Basically, it's just a class where you can do homework with student helpers." Ramona said. "Though you don't have too much homework. Do you have the textbooks?"

"I'm picking them up after class." Andre said.

"Okay, you can share mine."

Kenny and Barry joined them as they completed homework. Ramona helped Barry with science because he kept complaining. Barry seemed to have forgotten what happened during PE and was being perfectly friendly.

Then they had ten minutes left of relaxing.

"I'm bored." Barry said.

"Let's play a game." Ramona said. "If you were an animal, what would you be and why?"

"Easy, I'd be a poison dart frog." Barry said. "I think they're cool and they could boss people around."

"Maybe they'd be sad because no one wants to hug them." Andre said.

Ramona smiled. "I'd be a duckling." She said. "Because they're so cute and yellow, I like yellow and I love swimming."

"Cool, I'd be a penguin." Kenny said. "I know my brother would because he says they're highly intelligent."

"Yeah, not seeing it." Barry said.

"Shut up." Kenny snapped.

"What about you, Andre?" Ramona asked.

"Oh, um…I don't know…" Andre said. "Well, maybe a penguin. They're so cute and cuddly."

"Aww, cute!" Ramona said.

"Yeah, then they karate chop you!" Barry said, slicing his hand through the air.

"Oh please, like that will happen." Kenny said.

"It could!"

"Could not!"

"Could too!"

"Could not!"

"Could too!"

"Cou-"

The bell rang, much to Andre and Ramona's pleasure, interrupting the argument.

Barry zipped out of the room, shouting something about snow cones.

Kenny explained that there was a snow cone cart in the park near the school. They walked out to see the rest of the school piling out too.

Andre was amazed to see so many students.

"Come on or we'll be mowed over." Kenny said, quickening his pace.

Barry joined them with extra snow cones. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Kenny said, grabbing one.

Andre looked at the cone, "Oh, um…"

"Sorry, are you allergic to cherry?" Barry asked.

"No, his mom never lets him eat anything fun."

"Huh?"

"No pizza, no hamburger, sugar free cake…"

"She did what?!" Barry said, some ice spilled out of his mouth. "Gee, does she hate you?"

"No, no, she's just overprotective." Andre said. "My family had to help me beg her to let me come here. Remember when you joked about me going to Hogwarts?"

"Yeah, I said basketball wasn't Quidditch."

"If I was a wizard, she wouldn't let me go and even if she did, I wouldn't be a Quidditch player even if I was the best player since Harry Potter."

"Dude..." Barry said.

Andre took a bite out of the snow cone and smiled.

"See, it's not like the cone's going to bite you back." Barry said. "It's just shaved ice with flavoring, what's dangerous about that?"

"I asked the same about the tricycle." Andre said as they approached the apartments.

Barry almost dropped his cone. "She wouldn't let you ride a tricycle? I heard that, but I thought you were joking. Riding a tricycle is a rite of passage for children; HOW COULD SHE NOT LET YOU- Oomph!"

Kenny had shoved the cone in Barry's face. "Drop it; we're going to teach him so much."

"Not if you don't clean your room." An angry voice said.

"Eh, hi Alice." Barry said nervously. They were in front of what looked like a giant hotel that must have been at least six stories high. A red headed lady was glaring at the boys.

"I work here, but I am not your maid." She said. "I can smell something terrible coming from your room. I let you order pizza, not throw it all over the place."

Kenny blushed. "Gee Alice, we were just having fun."

"Get up there and clean it!" Alice snapped.

"But I have to help Andre-"

"Clean it, Taro!"

Kenny yelped and ran into the building with Barry behind him.

"Who are you?" Alice asked.

"I-I'm Andre."

"You're the new kid, right? Your parents dropped off your stuff, follow me." She said, entering the building.

Andre's mouth fell open; the inside was huge and gorgeous. It had brown carpeted floors and the walls were painted with jungle scenery. Couches were on either side and two tables with magazines were in front of them. A girl was sitting on a couch reading a fashion magazine. On the other side of the room, there was a giant restaurant area where some kids were already sitting and chatting. There were elevators on the right and on the left were Alice's desk and a supply closet; behind the desk was a door leading to a conference room. There were also two doors on both sides leading to the stairs.

Alice entered the conference room and then returned with Andre's things.

"A bag, a backpack, and a large suitcase. That's it, right?" Alice asked in a bored tone.

"Yes, thank you." Andre said.

"Your room number is 4P. It's on the fourth floor; you can find it, right?" She asked, not sounding concerned at all as she pressed a key into his hand.

"Yes, ma'am." Andre said.

"The dining hall closes at midnight, 9:00 on Fridays and Saturdays; quiet hours are from 11:00pm to 5:00am; I am not to be disturbed during those hours unless it's an emergency; the pool is available for all residents, you must register a guest who doesn't live here; and finally, don't get on my bad side, got it?"

"I think so." Andre said, feeling a little intimidated.

"Good, have fun, Alvin."

"It's Andre."

"I couldn't care less." Alice said, walking away.

Andre shook his head and picked up his things, and then he dragged his case to the elevators and pushed the button. He headed up to the fourth floor.

When he got out of the elevators, he saw two different paths on both sides and a blank wall in front. He took the left hallway and walked down it, and then he realized that the letters went from A-M. Then he headed back up the corridor when a head peeked out of one of the rooms.

"Hey sweetie, are you lost?" The girl asked with a smile.

"I-I…"

"No worry, my name is Gloria and I'm happy to help any new students."

"Uh…" Andre said.

"Do you know your number?"

"Um…4P." Andre said shyly.

"That would be on the other side of this floor. I think you're somewhere on the right."

"Thanks."

"No problem." Gloria said.

Andre smiled and went to the other side and sure enough, his room was the second on the right. He heard loud music coming from 4Q, but he didn't investigate. He swiped the key in the lock and opened the door. He entered to a quiet room which told him that Kenny and Barry were not his roommates.

It was a nice little living room and dining room with a small TV and a cool looking fridge. He spotted the bathroom and two bedrooms. He looked in the first bedroom and saw it was already occupied as there were photos on the wall and papers on both desks. Also, one of the beds was a mess and the other was hastily made.

"So I have at least two roommates." Andre said to himself, checking out the other room.

One bed was empty except for a package that had been sent a few weeks earlier. Andre knew the package contained all of his bedding. He put his things down and looked at the other side of the room. It was clean and there was a laptop sitting out on the bed. The books were straightened on the desk and a journal was on the desk.

He knew he shouldn't look, but he was so curious. He saw that the page mentioned him, but not by name.

Andre lifted the book and began to read:

_Dear Journal,_

_Tomorrow our new roommate comes. I'm not sure how I feel about this, but I guess it would be nice to show him around. We're glad to be back at school and away from- that place…Anyway, I said hi to Doris today, well it came out as a squeak…gosh, I'm so embarrassed. But she said hi to me and…that's it. She was with some friends, why don't girls go places alone?_

_Rocca's helped my brother a lot by tutoring him. Apparently she has a sister back home with Dyslexia. Also, I have to wonder if the batteries ever run out on the music player across the hall…I wish they did._

_By the way, Rocca is Marlene's last name. I-_

Andre heard a noise from the front door and hastily tossed the journal back on the desk. He stood by his bed and took out all his bedding.

"-Lucky you weren't kicked out." A voice was saying. "I know what you did was in defense of others, but-"

"Aw leave him alone, he's already been talked to by the principal and you know he's going to get a lecture from his dad's girlfriend." Another boy said.

"Ugh." A third boy replied.

"I've met her; she's pretty nice…for a crazy lady." The second boy said.

"At least she's not Alice." The first one said.

The three of them laughed.

Andre let out a small chuckle.

"Hang on." One of the boys said. "Someone's here."

Andre was suddenly nervous, every part of him wanted to hide or run away, but he was frozen.

"Hello?"

Andre didn't respond.

The three boys approached the bedrooms as Andre zipped over to the closet.

Andre peeked over so he could see the back of their heads; two of the boys looked familiar, but the third one was too far back to see.

"There's no one here." One of the boys said.

"But someone has been here."The boy with glasses said. "My journal's been moved. Also, there are bags there." He pointed to Andre's things.

Andre stifled a gasp when the second boy stared right at the spot he was hiding. He just realized who they were.


	4. Don't tell Mum

"Come on out of there." Skipper said. "We don't bite…hard."

"He's kidding." Kowalski said.

Rico peeked in, looking curious. He had a bruise on his cheek and a few scratches.

"Is that you, Private?" Skipper asked.

"My name's Andre." Andre said before he could stop himself.

"It is you!" Skipper said.

The door slid open and Andre slowly came out.

"Now that we're roommates, we should properly introduce ourselves." Kowalski said. "My name is Kowalski Taro. I see you've already met my brother."

Andre nodded. "I'm Andre Davis."

"I'm Skipper Sorenson, real name…classified. That would be on a need to know basis, and you don't need to know." He smiled. "And that's Rico Blue; he's a man of few words."

Rico grinned. From Andre's perspective, it was a bit scary looking.

"W-was that from the fight?" He asked in a hushed tone, pointing to a long scar on the left side of Rico's face.

Rico shook his head.

"Well, do you need help unpacking?" Kowalski asked. "Or would you like some alone time?"

"I-I don't know." Andre squeaked.

"Alright, kid, we'll let you relax." Skipper said. "But no more snooping around any journals or I'll have to put you on my list of suspicious people."

He and Rico went to their own room to relax.

"He's not serious, is he?" Andre asked.

Kowalski laughed nervously, "Yeah, I have no idea." He said. "I forgive you for looking at my journal. Did you need help with anything?"

"No, I can do it." Andre said.

Kowalski set off to do his homework while Andre unpacked.

He put all of his clothes in drawers and the closet, and then he put his suitcase in the hall closet. His computer was plugged in and on his desk. He turned to his bed.

He took out all of the bedding and prepared to make it. However, as he lifted the bed, it started to fall on him. He yelped and pushed it back, which caused it to fall back down.

Kowalski watched with amusement as the younger boy tried two more times, and then he felt bad and helped him.

"Thanks." Andre said once the bed was made.

"No problem." Kowalski said, returning to his work.

Andre's cell phone rang and he took it out to the living room where Rico was reading.

"Hello, Andre? Are you alright, darling?" Candace asked.

"Yes, mum."

"Are you sure you don't want to come back? I received a call saying that you were being picked on. Is everything okay? Do you want to come back home? We're not leaving yet so we can pick you up-"

"Mum! I'm fine. It was nothing, just a few stuck up people. Honest, I'll be fine. I don't want to go back home. I just made my bed and met my roommates, they're-" he paused, "they're cool…er…yeah."

"Oh, really? That's wonderful! Are they really nice and safe? They're not like the boys we saw earlier this morning, are they? Is your little friend Kenny your roommate?"

_They aren't LIKE the boys we saw this morning; they ARE the boys we saw this morning._ He thought. _Safe?_ He glanced at Rico who was looking at a magazine that had bombs on the cover. "Kenny's not my roommate, but it's alright." He finally responded.

"Well, at least you'll get to see him! Oh, your father wants to talk to you."

Andre sighed as the phone was given to his father.

"Hey Andre! How was your day so far? I'm not lecturing you; I think a few fights to start off your week are great- OW! Your mum has a strong arm."

Andre rolled his eyes. "Dad, I'm doing great. Er…is Mum still nearby?"

"Let me see. Nope, she just went to the restroom."

"I lost my salad, but a nice girl let me go to a club meeting for pizza." He said. "It was wonderful and later, my friend Barry gave me a snow cone! Both of them tasted like Heaven. Please don't tell Mum, I really think I can eat whatever I want now. This was brilliant; thanks for helping me convince Mum to let me come here."

"Well I'm certainly not telling, but you know she'll find out eventually. I'm glad you're having fun."

"Yeah, she'll also find out my roommates are those boys from earlier."

"The kid with the glasses and the other two?"

"Yeah, they're a little intimidating, but I think I can be friends with them."

"Alright, well it's good for you to be around different people and- It's really great that you got another salad from the lunch line."

Andre was about to question when he noticed the change in tone.

"Yup Dad, I'm being perfectly safe."

"Good boy, we love you and good luck!"

"I love you darling!" Candace shouted in the background.

Andre turned to see Rico looking at him with an eyebrow raised.

"My mum is overprotective." Andre said.

Rico shrugged and returned to his magazine.

"Is your mum that way too?"

Rico didn't respond. Andre decided to leave him alone.

He was about to go to his room when there was a knock at the door.

"Can I answer that?" Andre asked, looking at Rico. Rico still didn't respond. "I'll take that as a yes."

He walked over and opened the door.

"HELLO NEIGHBORS!" The boy shouted, startling Andre.

The boy had silvery-grey hair and was wearing what looked like a homemade hat. It took Andre a few seconds to realize who it was.

"YOU?! You're our new neighbor?" Julien said, examining Andre. "The boy who disrespects de crown…our neighbor…I am not believing this."

"Hooray for King Julien!" A little boy squealed, hugging Julien.

"MORT! GET OFF ME!" Julien bellowed, attempting to push the surprisingly strong child off.

"He likes you." Private said.

The boy ran off to his room. Andre had figured out where the music was coming from.

"It is stupidity." Julien said. "Anyway, I am decreeing that you come tonight to my royal party. It is in 4Q."

"I don't think I'm go-"

"Don't think? Don't think?! No, you ARE going. It is a royal decree, you cannot be disobeying it."

"I think I have a choice."

"You do NOT! I am de King here and you must be obeying de king which is me. I think I might have mentioned- I AM THE KING!"

"Could you please stop yelling at me?"

"I-" He caught sight of Rico's scowl and gasped. "Come here." He pulled Andre out into the hall. "He is your roommate?"

"Yes." Andre said, "What of it?"

"You really are new. Have you not heard?"

"Heard what?"

"Rico is dangerous. There's a reason those other whackos were beating on him. They call him a freak, yes, but he is also deadly."

"Deadly, what on earth are you talking about?"

"Even his stepmother knows. Rico is a murderer."

"What?!"

"They say he killed his mother in psycho rage. And he tried to kill his sister, which is why she is blind."

"I-"

"He's a psycho. You never know when he turns on you."

"I don't believe that for a second."

"Suit yourself pal, don't say I didn't warn you." Julien smirked and returned to his room where the loud music was playing.

Andre rolled his eyes and turned to find the door shut. Having left his key inside, he knocked on the door.

A few seconds later, Rico opened it.

"Thanks." Andre said, following the older boy inside.

Rico nodded and continued to look through his magazine.

_It can't be true, can it?_ Andre asked himself, looking at Rico. _He's looking through a magazine about explosives, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's violent, does it? Can Julien's word be trusted? Ca-_

"AHH!" He had almost crashed into Skipper.

"Whoa there, what happened?" he asked.

"Julien." Andre mumbled.

Skipper groaned, "He's annoying, don't listen to him. Half the stuff he says is garbage, anyway. You can hardly count on him for a straight answer."

"Even if he looks like he's completely serious?"

"Sometimes. It's hard to tell if he knows what he's saying or if he doesn't have that little voice in his head."

"A conscience?"

"Yeah, I don't think he has one of those. Everything comes out of his mouth without prior thought."

"Okay."

Skipper approached Rico to discuss something while Andre returned to his room.

He was still confused, Julien had seemed so serious, but Skipper said not to trust him. He hardly felt like he could trust either at the moment. He still felt uneasy around his roommates. Even Kowalski was a bit intimidating, probably because he was smart.

Andre pulled out his laptop and began an email to his friend in England.

"Well, that's Math done." Kowalski sighed.

"Really?" Andre asked, "But that wasn't even an hour."

"I can finish pretty fast." Kowalski admitted. "What're you doing?"

"Writing to my friend, Ginger, she's always wanted to know what it was like here. By the way, your brother's in trouble for having smelly pizza in his room."

Kowalski groaned. "Again? I keep telling him that he can't- how does he even pay for it?" Kowalski rummaged through his bag and pulled out a wallet. "Hey, where'd my money go? I swear I just had twenty dollars in here last week…no, he couldn't…KENNY!"

Kowalski grabbed his key and stormed out of the room. "Kid…can't believe he'd…my personal…I'd never…kill that kid…why would he? I…I don't…" He muttered under his breath.

Andre stared at the doorway until he heard the door close and Kowalski's stomps faded.

"Wow, it's not even 4:30 and he's already annoyed with Kenny." Skipper laughed from the other room.

"Maybe you should make sure he's not going to actually kill Kenny." Andre called to Skipper.

"Can't. I have an Algebra test tomorrow and if I don't study, Marlene and the teacher are going to kill me. Mostly Marlene because she made my study schedule."

Andre pondered for a moment before putting his laptop aside and taking his key with him. He saw Skipper staring questioningly at a book and Rico was eating a muffin.

"I'll go after him." Andre said.

"'Kay." Skipper said, not really paying attention.

Andre hurried out to the hall to find that Kowalski had already gone down. He decided to go down the stairs so it would be faster. When he got down, he realized he didn't know what room it was. He headed down what he thought was the boys side. Deciding it would be better to ask, he knocked on a door.

"Oh, hello!" Ramona said. "I didn't expect you."

"Sorry, I was looking for Kenny."

Ramona rolled her eyes. "They live in 3D, good luck with whatever's going on." She said.

"Thanks." Andre went to the other side to hear yelling coming from one of the rooms.

He knocked on the door.

"Andre!" Barry said, opening the door. "Hurry, save us." He dragged the boy inside the room.

Kowalski was staring at Kenny with his arms folded. The pizza had been cleaned, but there was still a distinct smell of pepperoni and old cheese.

"I didn't do it! I was framed!" Kenny pleaded.

"Like I believe that for a second." Kowalski growled.

"No man, I'm completely serious."

"Admit to me that you stole my money to pay for your pizza and didn't even bother to share it."

"If we shared it, you'd have known we took the money."

"And that makes all the difference." Kowalski snorted, sarcasm lingering after he'd said it.

"Come on Walski. Can I call you Walski?" Barry said slyly.

"You may NOT." Kowalski snapped.

"So it's okay for him to throw pizza at someone, but not for us to throw pizza around the room?" Barry asked incredulously.

"NO IT'S NOT OKAY!"

"I didn't throw it at her!" Kenny shouted defensively.

"You may not have thrown that pizza, but you threw this one." Kowalski said sternly. "That is not the issue I've come for. The issue is that you stole my money to buy whatever you wanted."

"So it IS about the pizza." Barry remarked.

"SHUT UP!" Kowalski yelled.

"Please stop fighting." Andre said weakly.

The others appeared not to have heard him.

"Fine, I'm sorry." Kenny said. "Is that what you wanted to hear? You could have told me instead of yelling at me."

"You were being a brat." Kowalski said. "And you're no help either, Barry."

"I wasn't being a brat!" Barry said.

"You were being snotty and rude, what do you call that?"

"I'm not snotty and rude!"

"YOU DENIED EVERYTHING! I CAN SMELL THE PIZZA AND YOU DENIED GETTING ANY! I CAN SEE THE PIZZA THROWN AWAY IN THE TRASH!"

"THEN IT IS ABOUT THE PIZZA!"

"WOULD YOU STOP THAT?!"

"YOU STOP IT! YOU CAN'T JUST COME BARGING INTO OUR ROOM-"

"YOU LET ME IN!"

"I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE GOING TO SCREAM AT US!"

A loud banging noise interrupted Kowalski's retort.

Andre opened the door, but was buffeted out of the way by Alice.

"What's going on here?" She demanded. "I've gotten at least six noise complaints in the last two minutes. Four of them are from me."

"Kowalski's bothering us!" Barry said in a whining tone.

"Don't be a baby." Kowalski snapped at him.

"Either someone tell me what's going on or I drag all of you to the conference room. And I'm not happy. Do you want to see me angry?"

"You mean that's not your angry side?" Andre asked.

Alice glared at him. "No, Alvin. Now stay out of this."

Andre's feeble answer of "My name's Andre" faded under her intensified glare.

"Miss Alice," Kowalski said. "I do hope we haven't bothered you. You see, this has to do with me and my brother. There is nothing wrong but a family affair. A simple thing really, we will not shout anymore. I am truly sorry for disturbing you."

Alice looked at him oddly, her expression seemed to soften somewhat. "You're a strange one, Taro. But I'll let you off the hook this time, no more yelling." She exited the room.

"How did you do that?" Andre said.

"Formalities." Kowalski answered simply. "Something you two should learn." He added, turning to Barry and Kenny.

Barry turned red and ran to his room.

"Now brother, you see why I simply wanted an answer from you?" Kowalski asked in the same tone he'd used when talking to Alice.

"Y-yes." Kenny said, looking at the floor. "I'm sorry; I should have asked you for money."

"That is all I ask of you." Kowalski said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must study now."

He smiled and left the room.

"Wait, wasn't he upset?" Andre asked.

Kenny shrugged. "My brother has complicated emotions."

"Okay." Andre said.

"I-is it safe to come out now?" A nervous voice said. A small boy was looking at them.

"Yeah, the storm has passed."

"Don't be afraid." A voice said behind him. The first boy was given a gentle push from behind.

"Hello." The second boy said, "Are you new here? Then again, I got here at the beginning of the school year so everyone's new to me."

"Yeah, he's the new kid!" Kenny said. "Andre, these are my roommates."

"Hi, I'm Andre Davis."

"My name's Izzy." The second boy said with a smile. "And the scaredy cat's name is Leonard."

"I am NOT a scaredy cat." Leonard said.

"That's not what it looked like when you were under the covers." Izzy said.

"I was reading!"

"It must have been dark in there."

"I LIKE the dark."

"Mm-hm, sure you do. Would you like a drink, Andre?"

"Oh, sure." Andre said.

Izzy got a plastic cup and poured out some lemonade.

"Thanks." Andre said. "I'm going to go; I have to finish an email to my friend."

"Feel free to stop by any time, okay?" Izzy said.

"Thank you, I will." Andre said.

He exited his room and headed down the hall.

He was nice. Andre thought. Now I'm not sure what I think about Kowalski. I don't know what I think of any of them yet. Maybe I'm thinking too mu-

"BOO!" "AAAHHH!"

The cup dropped from his hands and the liquid splashed onto the walls and floor.

A girl with brown hair was laughing at him.

"That's not funny…you made me spill my lemonade…"

"I-I'm sorry." She gasped, trying to catch her breath. Her eyes were bright blue. "I like scaring people, I couldn't help it. I'm Hunter, what's your name?"

"I- um...it's-"

"Whoops got to go!" She said. "See you later I-um. Don't worry about the mess, I'll clean it up!"

"Wait, that's not-"

But she had already disappeared to the other side.

Taking her word for it, Andre picked up the cup and headed back up the elevator. Once inside, he saw a boy with light brown hair who was staring vacantly at the buttons.

"Are you going to get off?" Andre asked.

"Are you?" The boy asked in a monotonous voice.

"No, I just got on."

"Okay."

Andre pressed the button to the fourth floor.

"Which floor are you on?"

"This one." The boy said, pointing to the ground.

"Why didn't you get off?"

"Because my room is on the fourth floor."

"I asked what floor you were going to."

"No, you asked which floor I'm on. I'm on the elevator floor."

Andre shook his head. "What?"

The doors opened and they got off. "Okay, now you're on the fourth floor."

"What happened to the other three?"

"Er, we don't need to go to them. Unless your room is not here."

"No, it's over there."

"I meant here, on the floor."

"My room's on the floor?"

"I'm confused."

"Nice to meet you, Confused. My name's Fred."

"No, my name's Andre."

"Okay, Andre Confused."

"Yeah, Andre is confused." Andre mumbled. Fred didn't seem to catch that.

"Well, good luck finding your room on the floor. I'm pretty sure mine's on the wall."

Andre had no response as Fred wandered to his room and entered. He noticed it was the same room as Julien and Mort.

"I could get more answers out of a squirrel." Andre said to himself as he opened the door.

"What was that, Private?" Skipper asked.

"Could you stop calling me that?" Andre asked. "I mean, Andre's not that hard to say."

"You might not want to go in there." Skipper said as Andre headed for his room.

Andre stopped. "W-why not? Have you done something?"

"No, but Kowalski's having a moment."

"What kind of moment?"

"A 'Doris' moment. He asks a bunch of obsessive questions and then kisses his pillow. I liked it better when he was embarrassed to do that. At least it's better than when he sleeps."

"Er-what?"

"Nothing."

"Skipper, is there something wrong with Fred?"

"Fred? Other than him having the brain the size of a grain of sand, no. He's strange, I don't know what's up with him, but don't frustrate yourself. Or do, I don't know. Do you trust me?"

Andre hesitated.

"It's okay if you don't; I'm still keeping you under watch myself."

"O-okay."

Skipper peeked into Kowalski's room.

"Okay, you're done. Let Private into the room."

Andre didn't bother to correct Skipper. He entered his room to see a very pink Kowalski opening a book.

Andre didn't ask as he finished the email.

Later, Andre met Kenny and Barry for dinner.

Izzy immediately joined Nat and Kowalski.

"They knew each other when they were kids." Kenny explained.

Andre got a hamburger and fries, Barry got chicken pot pie, and Kenny got spaghetti and meatballs.

They were joined by three similar looking boys. Two of them were identical twins, and one was nearly identical, but looked a little younger. They all looked vaguely familiar.

"Whaddup?!" One of the twins said, plopping himself next to Barry. He placed his hot dog in front of him.

"Nuthin'!" Barry said.

"Hey, who are you?" The other twin said, he had a hot dog as well.

"Do you like candy?" The youngest boy said.

"Er…Hello, my name's Andre…and I've never had candy before."

"WHAT?!" The boys said.

"Unacceptable!" The youngest said, pulling something out of his pocket. "Eat this candy."

"Peanut butter winky? I'm not sure if I'd like it. I'll try after dinner."

"Good boy, Eggy." Kenny said.

"You're Ramona's brother!" Andre said.

"Yup, you met our sissy then. I'm Bradley."

"Samuel's the name. We're eleven."

"And you know, but I'm Eggy."

"Egbert, Egbert." The twins sang.

Eggy blushed. "Come on, guys." He said, picking at his lasagna.

"Wait." Barry said, stopping Andre's food from entering his mouth.

Barry pulled out a phone and ignored Andre's complaint.

"Okay, go." He held up the phone.

Andre gave him a quizzical look before biting the hamburger. His eyes went wide.

SNAP!

"This is amazing!" He said.

"Aww, Andre's first hamburger." Barry said in a baby voice, showing the photo to the other boys.

"Yay!" Kenny cheered. "We knew you could do it!" He pinched Andre's cheek.

"I had a hamburger, not potty training!" Andre said, blushing red.

"But still!" Samuel said.

"How about this. Every time Andre has a food he's never tasted before, we take a picture and post it on Facebook. How does that sound?" Barry said.

"Terrible." Andre said. "My mum will see that!"

"Exactly, then she'll see how much fun you're having and-"

"Take me straight home."

"She'd do that?" Bradley asked.

"None of you know my mother." Andre said seriously.

"Yup, he was denied a great rite of passage." Barry said.

"His first steps?" Bradley asked.

"No, dummy! He never learned how to bike ride."

"That's right." Andre said in response to the shocked looks on Bradley, Samuel, and Eggy's faces. "The only things my mum will let me ride are cars and planes. And if we go to London, she insists on holding my hand on the Underground."

"The what?" Eggy said.

"To put it simply, my mum would hold my hand if we went on the subway system here."

"Wow, my mom doesn't do that and I'm nine. She only holds my hand if I'm tired."

"Does she refer to herself as 'Mum', 'Mummy', or 'I/me'?" Andre asked.

"She stopped saying 'Mommy's tired' and stuff like that when I was six."Samuel said. "Does your mom still do that?"

"I think she might have stopped a month ago, but she still thinks I'm a baby."

"Are you the youngest?" Eggy asked. "Sometimes my mom has these weird moments where she hugs me and starts crying. Maybe it's hormones."

Samuel and Bradley avoided eye contact.

"I'm an only child." Andre said. "I've asked a thousand times if I had an older stepbrother or stepsister or half-sibling, but my mum and dad said I'm their first and only child."

"I wish I had a younger brother or sister." Eggy said. "But every time I ask, Mom looks at me funny."

"That's because you always have boogers hanging out of your nose." Samuel said.

"Booger boy, booger boy." Bradley chanted.

"Funny guys, real hilarious." Eggy said.

"Do you have a sibling, Barry?" Andre asked.

Barry raised his eyebrows. "Would I be likely to tell you?"

"Yes." Everyone at the table said.

Barry rolled his eyes. "An older sister, we're kind of…different."

"How?" Andre asked.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Come on." Kenny said, poking Barry.

"Shove off." Barry snapped.

"Gee, I was just trying to have fun. I-"

"This isn't fun." Barry suddenly got up and tossed his trash away before leaving.

"What just happened?" Andre asked.

"I honestly have no idea." Bradley said. "That guy is something. Hey Sammy-boy, I see our beloved sister."

Samuel grinned. "Let's bother her, shall we?"

The two of them got up and followed Ramona.

Andre opened the candy and ate it. He immediately grinned. "This may be my favorite candy EVER."

"It's also your first candy ever." Kenny said. "And I know where you can get more."

"Peanut Butter Winky…" Andre sighed. "Eggy, you're amazing."

"It was just a candy." Eggy mumbled, but he still smiled.

"Don't tell my mum." Andre laughed.

"Eggy."

Eggy looked around, "Hi Mort."

"I needs help."

"With English?" Kenny asked.

"No, I needs help with Math."

"I'm not the best student, Mort." Eggy said.

"But you're good enough." Mort said.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do."

Eggy followed Mort out.

"Help him with English too!" Kenny said.

"Wait, Eggy's younger." Andre said. "He said he was nine."

"Eggy's the youngest in fourth grade." Kenny said. "Although, Mort does act like he's younger." He gave a big yawn.

"Bedtime." Kowalski said as he passed by.

Kenny stuck his tongue out at him. "I have to go back before Barry freaks Leonard out again. Barry decides to scare people when he's in those weird moods. See ya!"

Andre was going to ask about Hunter, but Kenny had already walked away.

Andre gathered whatever trash was left and threw it out. He went back to make sure no one left anything behind. He turned to go when he bumped into someone.

"Sorry." He said.

"You want to be careful there." A male voice said. It was an accent he didn't know, but he looked at the boy. He looked hardly older than Skipper, but he had a strange gaze. His light brown eyes were focused on Andre's blue eyes. "Don't want to get in trouble now."

"T-trouble?" Andre squeaked. He looked around; most of the dining hall was deserted.

"Yes, I know who you know."

"W-what?"

"HANS!"

Skipper was storming towards them. "Leave him alone." He growled, putting a firm hand on Andre's shoulder.

Hans grinned. "What? I was simply-"

"Simply nothing. Leave him alone and don't follow us."

Hans raised his eyebrows, still grinning, and then went to get himself some food.

Andre found himself being steered towards the elevators by an agitated Skipper.

"Don't talk to him." Skipper said. "Don't look at him. He's a loudmouth idiot who…AGH! I can't even say it! Just don't associate yourself with him."

"But he came up to me…what's wrong with-"

"DON'T ASK!"

Andre was startled. He jumped into the elevator while Skipper pushed the button, muttering under his breath.

Skipper still didn't speak when they entered the room. He marched to his room and slammed the door.

Andre zipped to his room and fell onto his bed.

"Are you alright?" Kowalski asked, noting the blond one's heavy breathing.

"W-who's Hans?" Andre asked, wincing. He was afraid Kowalski would yell at him too, but he had to know.

"I'm not sure on the details, but he's bad news." Kowalski said. "Skipper nearly dragged me to class the first time he approached us."

"I didn't see Rico." Andre said.

"Rico's at the gym."

"Gym? What gym?"

"The one by the pool, I'm guessing Alice didn't tell you about it."

"No. If she did then I don't remember. It's been a very long day."

"I bet." Kowalski chuckled. "I felt that way my first day too."

Andre sighed. He played a game on his computer until he was too tired. He got ready for bed and decided to read while Kowalski got ready.

"You know, I could have hidden myself under the covers." Andre said as Kowalski came back from the bathroom with his pajamas on.

"Yeah, sorry." Kowalski muttered. "I'll keep that in mind."

Andre was already starting to fall asleep when Kowalski turned off the lamp on his bedside table.

Andre was startled for a second until he remembered that it was supposed to be dark. _Mum, why did you make me sleep with a night light?_ He wondered.

While Andre drifted into dreams of peanut butter winkies, Kowalski was tossing and turning.

He woke up sweating in the middle of the night. He reached his bedside table only to have his hand bump an object which promptly fell to the ground. "Stupid glasses…" he muttered. He groped the ground in the darkness before he found them.

He went to the bathroom to splash water on his face. He felt better as he stared into the mirror.

He stared outside his window, taking in the view of the city at night. Then he saw something, it was a man standing across the street, staring at a sign. He wondered why somebody would be out at night to just stare at a sign. He gasped as the man looked straight at him.

Kowalski jumped away from the blinds and slid back into bed. _It's impossible, he couldn't have seen me. _He told himself. _If so then why would he care? Unless he's recruiting for a university…that'd be illogical to stare at someone if that was the case._

He heard the distant sound of either Skipper or Rico closing the bathroom door. He tried to stop thinking and eventually managed to fall asleep again.

**A/N: End of that really long chapter, sorry if it was overwhelming.**

**I don't know if I said this, but I'll say it now. I have a universal disclaimer on my profile. I own very few things, and the things I don't own would make me rich if I did. I do not own New York either…though you probably already know that unless you're not paying attention.**

**Also, I want to ask now- Is it against the rules if I put little snippets of chat room conversation. It wouldn't take up a whole chapter, but it is allowed if I do that?**

**I wanted to ask now so I don't get told off.**

**It would go something like this:**

**Andre goes on his computer.**

**Person 1: Blah blah blah, gossip**

**Person 2: Response. Blah blah blah.**

**Person 3: Lalalala My name's Mort!**

**Person 4: What the heck?**

**Person 2: He has rocks for brains**

**Andre: That's not nice**

**Person 2: Pppbth!**

**Kenny: Don't 'pppbth' him!**

**Person 2: Buttface.**

**Kowalski: Watch who you're making fun of**

**Kowalski: And it's Butt face. Two words.**

**Person 2: Ooh, I'm so scared.**

**Skipper: Boys, off the computer!**

**Kowalski: My pleasure to get out the presence of a bunch of buffoons.**

**Andre: Yes sir!**

**Then Andre logs off computer and resumes the activities of the day.**

**P.S. I keep wanting to call Andre 'Private', but that's not for a little while longer…**


	5. Whirlwind week

"RISE AND SHINE, LAST ONE OUT OF BED SCRUBS THE ENTIRE PLACE DOWN."

Andre groaned and turned over.

"OKAY, I WAS KIDDING ABOUT THE SCRUB DOWN, BUT ALL OF YOU GET OUT OF BED."

Andre groaned again and this time he opened his eyes. Kowalski was rubbing his eyes. Skipper was standing at the doorway, fully clothed, with a grin on his face. It seemed a bit dark still.

Andre looked at the clock. "Oh come on, it's five in the morning."

"School starts at 0800 and I will not tolerate lateness."

"You couldn't have given it another hour and a half?" Andre complained. "I like to get up at 6:30."

"That's a negative, Private."

"And stop calling me that." Andre said grumpily as he pulled his covers up to his chin.

"You can get out of bed my way or Rico's way."

Andre looked at him. "W-what's that supposed to mean?"

"Actually, I don't think we want to know." Kowalski said, getting out of bed.

Rico laughed from the other room. Andre sighed and picked himself up.

By the time Kowalski and Andre had showered and gotten dressed, it was ten past six. Rico had his bag ready and waited for the other two.

"Are Kenny and Barry even up?" Andre asked.

"I don't know, I'm not their mothers." Skipper said. "I've never even met their mothers."

Kowalski glared at him.

"Alright troop, let's move out!"

Andre reluctantly followed his roommates to the elevators. He heard music from Julien's room again.

"The only time I commend those lemur for brains boys. They aren't afraid to get up early." Skipper said. "That being said, they also can't resist partying 'til all hours of the night."

Andre let himself off at the third floor to see if Kenny and Barry were awake.

He knocked on the door and waited.

"Brains…" a moan came from behind the door.

Andre raised an eyebrow.

"Stop doing that!" Leonard's high pitched squeak came from the door.

"Can we go now?" Kenny said in a bored voice.

Andre knocked again.

Barry opened the door, "Thank you for calling 1800-I want to eat your braaaaaains- how may I help you valued vict- I mean customer?" he said in a slow doleful tone.

"Yes, I was looking for the International House of Can we get some breakfast already?"

Kenny and Barry laughed.

"Funny kid. Now for the real deal, what do you do when a girl who's wearing a leopard seal pin comes up behind you?" Barry had a mischievous grin.

"Wait, what?"

"BOO!"

Andre jumped and swiveled around. "H-Hunter!"

The girl laughed. "Sorry, I love scaring people." She gave Barry a high five. "What was your name again? I'm pretty sure it's not I-um."

"Andre. My name is Andre."

"Well Andre my name is Andre; you might want to get down to the dining hall before they run out of chocolate chips."

"WOMAN! You will not jeopardize his first tasting of a pancake!" Barry shouted.

"I had banana pancakes yesterday morning."

"Oh, then she shall not jeopardize the tasting of your first chocolate chip pancake!"

"With whipped cream." Kenny added.

"Whipped cream?" Andre said.

Hunter turned around. "You've never had whipped cream." She said with plain shock on her face. "Get him to the dining hall STAT!"

The three of them rushed Andre to the elevators where they met Ramona and two other girls. Leonard and Izzy had to catch the next elevator.

"Why are you shouting, Hunter?" One of the girls asked, staring in the complete opposite direction.

"No time, we need to get him down there fast!" Hunter responded, pointing to Andre. "By the way, save the leopards." She put a pin in Andre's hand.

"Is this about chocolate chip pancakes?" Ramona asked.

"COMPLETELY!" Barry thundered.

"With whipped cream!" Kenny said.

Andre flushed and shrunk to the back of the elevator.

"Oh Kenny, you are exactly like my brother described." The other girl said. Her black hair was in a braid and she had dark blue eyes. "My name's Roxanne, but everyone calls me Rocky." She said to Andre. "And you must be the new roommate he was telling me about."

Andre turned a deeper shade of red. "W-what has he said about me?"

"You're a blond kid from Britain." Rocky said. "And this is Rikki." She said, indicating the girl next to her.

"I am not Rikki, I am MELON LORD!" The other girl said.

The others broke down into laughter.

Rocky rolled her eyes. "No more TV for you. Even if it is on audio tapes."

"Wait." Andre said. "Are you Rico's sister?"

"Yup, has he said anything about me?"

"Er, no. Julien did."

The others scowled. Kenny shook his head. "Andre, whatever you heard from Julien is probably a big fat lie." He said.

Before he could respond, Barry grabbed his arm and tore off through the opened doors to the breakfast line.

Andre panted once they stopped.

"Get the pancake." Barry said.

Slightly nervous, Andre put two pancakes on his plate and found an empty table.

Barry joined him with five hastily stacked pancakes. He passed Andre some butter and grinned. He put his orange juice next to Andre's milk.

Kenny came over a few seconds later with a bowl of cereal, some bacon, and water. He glared at Barry.

"What? I'm a growing boy." Barry said.

"Eat all of those and you'll be a throwing up boy." Kenny responded.

Barry rolled his eyes. He snapped a picture of Andre eating his chocolate chip pancake with a satisfied smile. He then began to wolf down his pancakes.

Kenny ate his cereal and nibbled at a piece of bacon. He and Andre watched Barry eat with an expression of distaste.

"Dude, you could have saved three of those for the people who wanted some." Kenny said.

Barry mumbled something, causing food to tumble out of his mouth.

"You shouldn't talk with your mouth full." Kenny said.

Barry gulped. "I'm fine, Mr. Mom."

Kenny gave Barry another glare. "I'm full." He said. He gave the remainder of his bacon to Barry who wasted no time in putting in his mouth.

Kenny ripped the piece he'd been chewing on and gave the untouched part to Andre and the rest was thrown away.

"Why didn't you eat it?" Andre asked once he had finished chewing and swallowing.

"I wasn't hungry. A certain someone was making me lose my appetite." He looked pointedly at Barry.

Barry looked up. "Wha-?"

"Never mind."

Andre looked at his watch, it was nearly seven. "I suppose we could start walking. I have to pick up my books and gym clothes." He said.

"Alright." Kenny agreed, picking up his bag.

"Didn't you pick up your books yesterday?" Barry asked.

"I forgot." Andre said sheepishly.

Before Barry and Kenny could respond, their path was blocked by an annoyed looking redhead.

"You two, did you get rid of the pizza like I told you?" Alice snapped.

Kenny was about to answer, but Barry stepped on his foot.

"Yes Ma'am, last night," Barry said, "right after you left."

"Good." Alice said. She walked away without another word.

"You took it out after I told you to stop bothering Leonard. And you did it really fast." Kenny said.

"Yeah, I dumped it in another room." Barry smirked, running ahead of them.

"What? Whose room? How did you do that?" Andre asked, walking faster.

"Simple, I found a key and the occupants were still out to dinner." Barry said, allowing the others to catch up.

"How did you know which room?" Kenny wondered.

"Because I saw the king of all things dance drop it."

Kenny laughed. "Seriously, he doesn't know his key's missing?"

"He's more concerned with showing off his moves than getting in his room. Even if he noticed, he's always with his friend." Barry said.

"That's a bit harsh." Andre said. "Even if he's bossy and self-centered, you should give him his key back."

"Bossy? Who are you talking about?" Kenny asked.

"Julien, why? Who were you thinking of?" Andre said.

"Alex."

"Who?"

"Alex, he's a senior here."

"Oh."

Barry laughed. "Don't worry about it."

"Wait, you threw smelly pizza in a senior's room?" Andre wondered. "Isn't that against social rules or something?"

"To be more precise, four seniors."

"WHAT?! And you have one of their keys? You have to give them back!" Andre squeaked.

"Don't worry, Alex isn't like the seniors from yesterday. Though his constant chants of 'Melman, Melman, Melman' in the morning is really annoying." Barry said. "We live next to them and he can be loud sometimes." He added. "The other two are Marty and Ted."

"Melman's like an older version of Kowalski." Kenny said. "Except he's afraid of every germ known to man. And he thinks he's going to die because he has brown spots on his face."

"He has yet to learn that they are only freckles." Barry sighed. "And that getting a cold doesn't mean he's going to die. You should see him in the lunch room. He sanitizes everything within a foot of his lunch and the seat before eating."

"Wow, and I thought my mum was obsessed with cleanliness." Andre said. "She wanted to bathe my goldfish."

"You can't bathe a goldfish." Barry said.

"I know, but she wanted to. I had one when I was five, but it died when Mum and I went to visit my Gran and my dad was left in charge."

"Andre if you ever have kids, don't let him babysit for more than three days." Kenny said seriously.

"My family owns a bakery so they should be able to get their own food." Andre said. "If they were babies, I'd ask my mum to help. Though she'd try to schedule everything."

"Yeah, until the baby poops off the schedule." Barry said. "And then cries until you realize there's a really soggy diaper and a fresh rash."

The boys laughed as they entered the school.

Andre hurried to the front office to get his books and gym clothes, and then he walked outside to find Barry and Kenny gone.

He looked around, but they weren't in sight. _It was barely ten minutes and they're gone. If I ever have kids, those two are not babysitting._

"Kenny? Barry?" He called. "Where are you?"

"They're never coming back." A deep voice said behind him.

Andre yelped and jumped back. "W-who are you?" he said with his eyes firmly shut.

"I have come for your soul."

"Stop it! You're scaring him. You can't scare middle school kids, that's my job." A female voice scolded.

"Aw, you're no fun."

Andre opened his eyes curiously. "Why'd you do that?"

"It was fun." Izzy said. "And you shouldn't have ditched me and Leonard for a bunch of girls, unless you're dating them."

"No, I just met them."

"Is it Hunter?" Izzy teased. "Aww, so cute. Andre and Hunter sitting in a tree-"

"Real mature." The girl next to him said. She had dark brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Says the drama queen of ninth grade." Izzy retorted.

"Go away."

"Oh that's nice."

"Excuse me, who are you?" Andre asked.

"I'm-"

"Oh Miss NAAAAAAATALIE!" Julien called, waving to her.

"He's asking for it." the girl growled.

Izzy seemed to know what was coming and held onto the back of her shirt. "Let him go, Nat."

"THIS ISN'T OVER!" Nat screamed at Julien. "YOU ARE GOING DOWN!"

"I love you too!" Julien said.

"How many times do I have to tell you this? I was ACTING."

"Oh yes you say that now, but your true feelings-"

"Are that you're a NINCOMPOOP!"

"You can call me all the poops you want, but we both know how you truly feel."

"Really? Because I don't think you do."

Izzy gave Andre a look that said he should get a move on.

Andre picked up the hint and ran to the middle school as fast as he could. He still couldn't find signs of-

"Barry?"

"Hiya, pal!" Barry said, walking over to Andre.

"Where have you been?" Andre demanded.

Barry lifted up his hand and Andre groaned.

"A muffin? Really? You just ate!"

"Yeah, but that was a whole twenty-five minutes ago."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up in the nurse's office before lunch." Ramona said, coming from around the corner.

"Have any of you seen Kenny?" Andre asked.

"Yeah, he came after me, but then he had to go to the bathroom." Barry said. "What happened with you anyway?"

"I ran into Izzy and a girl named Nat. She doesn't seem terribly fond of Julien."

"Yeah, she's not. I don't know why. Maybe you should as Kowalski."

"N-no." Andre said. "I don't need to ask anyone anything."

"Alright, I'm going to class now." Ramona said.

"See you soon little duckling!"

The back of Ramona's neck turned red as she zipped to Math.

"Barry." Andre said.

"Sorry, it was a joke." Barry chuckled.

"No, I want to ask about Rico. Do you know anything about him?"

Barry's grin slid off. "Depends, what have you heard?"

_That doesn't seem encouraging. _Andre thought. "Well, Julien came up with this wacky story about him being a murderer."

Barry hesitated. "I don't think he actually murdered, but it's been said that he's expressed… violent...tendencies and that he was kicked out of his last school because he almost blew it up." He said in a hushed tone, looking around as if Rico might pop up. "I can tell you more about Skipper."

"Okay." Andre said.

"Skipper's the kid of a war veteran and he builds his life on that. That being said, he's completely paranoid. He might seem calm to you, but he might turn up one night with a flashlight in your ear to see if any spies planted chips in your brain."

Andre stared at Barry.

"Kowalski's weird too." Barry said. "He hardly ever gets in trouble and he looks pale to me. I think he's a vampire."

"We were playing basketball in the sun yesterday." Andre said, "Don't you think we would have noticed a pair of shoes and a pile of ash where Kowalski stood?"

"He's a computer nerd with a crush on a girl way out of his league. When he talks about his crush is the only time you will see him unprofessional." Barry added. "And maybe he's not a vampire, but he's definitely got something going on."

"Who's got what going on?" Kenny asked. He had managed to approach them silently.

"Nothing, let's go to class!" Barry said. He took off immediately.

"He's actually excited for class…that's a first." Kenny said. "Sorry we left you there, but I had to stop Barry. Judging by the crumbs on his face, I didn't do such a great job."

"No, but I'm sure he'll get sent to the nurse's office. Maybe Ramona's prediction will come true." Andre said as they proceeded to class. He decided against telling Kenny what Barry said about his brother.

"Ramona's right most of the time." Kenny said. "But Barry's a bottomless pit."

"Is he truthful?"

"What do you mean?"

"Can I rely on him?"

"I'd say seventy-five percent of the time. Did he say something?"

"He said Rico's violent and nearly blew up his old school; and Skipper's so paranoid he'd stick flashlights in people's ears to check for spy work."

Kenny laughed. "Skipper is no doubt paranoid, but he wouldn't do anything like that."

"And Rico? Julien told me Rico was a murderer and caused his sister to become blind."

Kenny scowled. "Julien's an idiot. Ramona told me that Rikki had eye problems when she was a few months old and lost her sight at the age of two. Rico's a year below her. Do you think he really could have done anything but pull her hair?"

"No." Andre admitted.

"And Rikki's told Ramona that she lost her mother at a young age, like five or six. I think it might have been a car crash or something. In any case Rico was at least four so you can kick Julien's theory away."

"Ramona's told you this?"

"Yeah, I had doubts about Rico and she wanted to set me straight. I still think he's a bit scary though."

"Me too."

"SCARY?!" A booming voice said. "You wouldn't be talking about me, would you?"

The boys turned to find their teacher smiling at them.

"Still not funny." Andre grumbled.

"Why?" Kenny asked. "Just because Mort drives you crazy, doesn't mean you have to practice your insanity on us."

"Oh yes it does." Mr. Campbell said. "Kids want a teacher they find funny and reliable. Good old reliable Randy, that's me."

"Every part of that is true." Kenny said.

Andre gasped. "He didn't mean it."

"Don't you worry; I actually find it quite hilarious, especially considering I haven't given you the test yet. Gosh, I must be so old." Mr. Campbell said.

Kenny blushed, muttered something and sat down. The class was failing to contain their laughter.

Andre followed him in.

"Hilarious, isn't he?" Allie said.

"Er, I guess. Why weren't you at the apartments?" Andre asked.

"I live nearby." She answered. "Is he your roommate?"

"Kenny? No, mine are high school guys. Skipper, Rico, and Kowalski."

"Rico?" A boy asked from behind. "No, you can't mean THE Rico. I wish good luck to you." he shook his head.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Andre asked. He saw Barry shake his head a few seats over.

"Nah, it's best if you don't know. Whatever happens will be fast and painless."

"Painless?!" Andre squeaked.

"Stop it now." Allie said.

"You know as well as I do-"

"Don't listen to him, Andre." Kenny said.

"I have wisdom to share, Taro." The boy said.

"Would you like to share it?" Mr. Campbell said, "Or can I pass the tests to the class?"

Everyone was silent and put their attention to the front.

All in all it was a pretty normal day for them. Andre didn't question Barry or Kenny about his roommates again. He was still unsure if they were the truth, but confident that Rico was not a killer. He got homework today, sweat in PE, and had a good lunch. He got a hotdog at lunch and Barry snapped another photo. What he was going to do with the pictures was a mystery to Andre, he tried getting Barry to spill the beans but to no avail.

Ramona's prediction of Barry being sent to the nurse's office came true right before the last class. She, Kenny, and Andre told him 'I told you so' which caused him to scowl at them as he left.

Andre had noticed that Kenny barely ate his hamburger, but when asked about it he became silent and still. Kenny looked pale, but he maintained that he was perfectly fine.

Barry came back for the last fifteen minutes of class and commented that Kenny looked like a pale pastry.

Kenny had turned pink and refused to speak to Barry. As soon as the bell rang, Kenny zipped out of the classroom before any of them could stop him.

Ramona told Andre not to worry too much and Barry kept making jokes about Kenny the Pastry.

Eventually, Ramona became frustrated and marched ahead of them.

"What did I do?" Barry asked.

Andre raised his eyebrow.

"Alright, I'll apologize to her after I throw pizza in her room." Barry said.

"So that WAS you."

They turned around to find two seniors standing behind them.

"Hey Alex, what's up?" Barry laughed nervously.

"Can I have my key back, please?" Alex asked.

"Key? What key?"

"Denial's another river in Egypt." The boy next to Alex said.

"Denial…ha, that's funny…De Nile…haha…you're hilarious, Marty…" Barry said.

"Key please." Alex said.

"What's up with the poofy hair? You should cut it."

"Barry, just give him his key back." Andre said. He was staring at Marty's hair which had white stripes on it.

"Fine." Barry huffed. He took a key out of his backpack and gave it to Alex.

"Thank you." Alex said.

"Why did you say that?" Barry demanded as the seniors left. "Andre, I could have gotten away with it!"

"Actually, I think Leonard would eventually have said something." Andre said. "What's up with Kenny?"

"I don't know, I'll ask him!"

And Barry ran to the apartments without another word.

Andre sighed and walked the rest of the way. He crossed the street and saw a man on the sidewalk staring at the building.

"If you want to enroll your kid, you can talk to the fussy redhead." Andre said.

The man broke into a wide smile. "Didn't your mom ever tell you not to talk to strangers?"

Andre didn't answer; he turned and walked across the street and into the building.

"Alice." He said once he located the grumpy redheaded lady.

"Huh? Oh it's you. What do you want, Alvin?"

"It's Andre."

"I don't care. What do you want?"

"Do you know that man out there?"

Alice looked to where he was pointing. "I don't see a man; I see a bunch of kids."

"He's past the kids, standing across the street."

"Well, is he doing graffiti on the wall?" Alice asked.

"No, he-"

"Then leave it alone. If no one's interfering with my job, it's fine."

"But I think he was staring at me."

"He's probably wondering if you're a real blond."

"But what if he has a sinister-"

"Stop."

Andre held back his words.

"I don't have time for crazy stories, I have to make sure you kids don't burn the building down. I am not your mommy, Alvin. Don't expect me to hold your hand when you feel scared."

"I wasn't-"

"Because that is not my job. You have to deal with life on your own kid; I guess that's what your parents wanted you to learn. It's not my fault they threw you at life and went back to the comforts of home."

"That's not-"

"I don't want any crybabies, I get that enough with the kids younger than you. I don't want any whining either."

"Aren't we supposed to approach you for problems?"

"Tough." Alice huffed. She returned to her office, closing the door.

Hot tears threatened to fall from his eyes. Andre blinked rapidly as he approached the elevator.

"HOLD THE DOOR!"

Andre looked up and he saw a blond girl running towards the elevator. He quickly pressed a button and the doors opened again.

"Thanks." She said as she entered. "Hey, I haven't seen you before."

"My name's Andre, I'm a transfer student." Andre said.

"Ah, I'm Doris." She said.

Andre looked up. "Doris? You wouldn't by any chance know Kowalski, would you?"

Doris's face had a slightly pink tinge. "I would. Has he been talking about me?"

"Skipper mentioned you." Andre said.

"Oh, well um…Kowalski's nice." Doris said.

"Do you like him?"

"Only as a friend, but he doesn't seem to get it."

Andre nodded.

Doris smiled. "I get off here, do you?"

"Yeah, you live on the fourth floor too?"

"Yes, my roommates are Gloria, Shelly, and Pinky."

"Pinky?"

Doris shrugged. "See you later!"

Andre returned to his room to find that Skipper was the only one there. He was lifting weights in the living room.

"Oh, hello."

"Hey." Skipper said, not really paying attention.

Andre worked on his homework while Skipper continued. Kowalski came a little while later and started typing an essay. Rico was the last to come and he immediately went in the shower.

"Meet anyone new today?" Kowalski asked.

"Huh?" Andre said. "Just a few people. Your friend Nat and two seniors named Alex and Marty and Doriswasontheelevator."

"What?" Kowalski turned around to see Andre determinedly staring at the computer.

"Um, I said I met someone on the elevator."

"And what was the name?"

"It might have been…well…it was…Dor-"

"DORIS?!" Kowalski said. "You saw Doris and didn't mention it?!"

"Y-yes, but Skipper said you were obsess-"

"Obsessed? Me? NEVER!" He fled from the room. "Skipper, what have you been telling him?!"

Skipper grinned. "Nothing that wasn't blatantly obvious."

Kowalski's face was extremely red. "I can't believe- my personal- WHY?" He demanded.

"It was OBVIOUS; do I have to spell it out for you?" Skipper said.

"I- just- you- GAAAH!"

"I saw a man on the street." Andre said, desperate for a change of subject.

Skipper looked a little sad. "Well, unfortunately there are people who don't have homes and-"

"No, this guy looked perfectly fine, he was staring up at the building. Then he stared at me." Andre said. "I told Alice, but she said she couldn't care less."

"Here's a hint, don't tell Alice anything and you won't run into Doris on the elevator and NOT TELL ME!" Kowalski said.

"Stop freaking out!" Skipper said. "And she doesn't like you that way; she said she just wants to be friends."

Kowalski squeaked and went back to his room, closing the door.

"What about the stranger?" Andre asked.

"I think you're worrying too much." Skipper said. "He was probably confused as to whether you were a boy or a girl."

"What?!"

"Your hair is so long." Skipper eyed the blond hair that came about an inch below Andre's chin.

Andre stared at Skipper. "It is not!"

"Yes it is, he was probably trying to ask a question, but he was confused because he didn't know if he should say 'sir' or 'ma'am' so he just stared." Skipper had a huge grin.

"That's not funny." Andre turned to leave and he bumped into Rico. "AAAHHH!"

Rico blinked as Andre hurried back to his room.

Kowalski was in complete silence while he finished homework.

As his first week went by, Andre was pretty sure his roommates didn't care about him. They didn't seem concerned when he'd come back from the second floor. They didn't talk to him much, and he was afraid to talk to them.

Kenny stopped walking with him to and from school which made Andre think he we was angry. Barry kept trying to crack jokes, but that only seemed to further push Kenny away.

Barry's plans for the photos were indeed to put them on Facebook. Andre had a long talk with his mom on Friday afternoon. That was after he stopped talking to Barry.

He felt so alone that he'd actually considered calling his parents, but he knew he'd be babied by his mother if he did so. He kept himself sane by emailing and texting his friend and tried to hang around with Ramona and Allie. They weren't very fun company because all they wanted to do was talk about the homework and boys.

By the middle of the second week, he felt more alone than ever. Completely sure that Kowalski had stopped talking to him; he avoided his room as much as possible. He was also still upset at Skipper's comment and confused on what to think about Rico.

He began to miss his friends. He didn't know how long he'd take to forgive Barry as the photos were still not taken down. Kenny seemed to be avoiding Barry and saw no way around avoiding Andre since Barry was apologizing every five minutes.

Right when Andre wanted to forgive him, Barry snapped at him and refused to talk to him or Kenny.

He'd almost called his parents, but thought he could handle it a different way. He found a friend in Hunter and started hanging around her. They mostly stayed in the small garden behind the apartments, talking about Antarctic mammals. Even though he loved animals and Hunter's company, he still wished he could have his friends back.


	6. Stories and chats

As his second week of school began, it was starting to get colder. October was approaching quickly for him as he'd come in the third week of September.

Andre's mom kept calling to ask if he was wearing warm clothes and keeping his umbrella handy.

By the end of the week rain clouds threatened to burst on them and did so on Friday afternoon.

It was the last class of the day and the teacher was planning on a trip outside, but she didn't want to risk her students getting sick from the cold and rain.

Andre and Ramona sat quietly at a table doing their homework.

"Oh for Pete's sake!" Ramona said, slapping down her pencil. "Go talk to him already." She hissed at Andre.

Barry had been shooting pleading looks at Andre every few minutes and it was getting on Ramona's nerves.

Andre picked up his stuff and motioned for Barry to follow him.

Barry jumped up, but collided with the side of his desk and toppled over. He bounced back and zipped to Andre, stopping once he realized who was at the table.

Andre sat down and gestured for Barry to sit.

Barry silently groaned and sat.

"What are you two doing?" Kenny whispered hoarsely.

"You've been on that page for ten minutes." Barry answered. He meant for his tone to be harsh, but it came out as amusing and pitiful.

Kenny narrowed his eyes. "Why do you care?"

"Because we're your friends, doofus." Barry said. "Do you think that something as stupid as a pastry comment is going to separate us? Hello, we live in the same room."

"I guess I overreacted." Kenny mumbled.

"No kidding, I missed you." Andre said. "It's been driving me nuts not talking to you. I actually considered calling my mum. Why have you been avoiding me?"

"I didn't want you asking questions."

"You could have said that."

"Does that mean both of you forgive me?" Barry asked.

"My mum talked to me for an hour until my dad told her to go to bed." Andre said.

"I took down the pictures." Barry said. "How did she see them, anyway?"

"She looks at my profile page to make sure I'm being safe and you tagged me in the photos. She can see that too."

"If I didn't know she was a concerned parent, I'd say that's borderline stalking."

"Yeah, but if I block her she'll think I'm doing something bad. My dad had to convince her to let me go on it so I could keep in touch with my family. My Uncle Nigel is busy and I don't see him a lot, but he's on Facebook."

"I know something she couldn't follow you on." Kenny said with a grin.

"What is it?" Andre said.

"No." Ramona piped up, having approached them from behind. "You are not going to get him wrapped up in that stupid gossip wheel."

"You didn't think it was so stupid when you were gossiping." Barry snickered.

"I BARELY go on it." Ramona said.

"Can you tell me what it is?" Andre asked.

"It's called Central Community." Barry said.

"Oh here we go." Ramona groaned. "You're corrupting another one."

"I wasn't corrupted!" Kenny squeaked.

"It's a chat room." Barry said. "It's for the students of CPH. Our school, in case you didn't know. And the students in the apartments have it."

Ramona rolled her eyes. "You are something, aren't you Barry?"

"What does that mean?" Barry asked.

"Never mind, just know that I will only be on it when Andre is because I do not want to corrupt him. And that's if homework is completed."

"I'm almost done."

"Liar."

"How do you know, are you SPYING on us?"

"Why would I want to spy on you?"

"Because you love me."

"Ew, I do not!"

"I dare you to kiss me and then say that."

Ramona scoffed. "I will not."

"You can't resist me."

"Barry, you are disgusting and I wouldn't kiss you if you were the last person on Earth."

"Well yeah because you would be dead if I was the last person. Then I'd kiss you and there's no way you'd resist. Isn't that logical? I mean, you would think it was."

Ramona turned red. "Barry, you are the pitiful stain of stupid on the shirt of humanity."

"Then why are you still talking to me if I'm so stupid?"

"Alright, we'll stop you there." Kenny said. "Before this turns ugly."

Ramona huffed and walked back to her table.

"It was actually amusing for a while." Barry said.

"She called you a stain." Andre said.

"She's in denial. By the way, we're engaged." Barry said in a carrying voice.

"LIES!" Ramona shouted, causing the class to turn around. She immediately put her head down.

"Don't look at my beautiful fiancé." Barry said. "On with your work, people."

Ramona was the first to leave. She'd zipped out as soon as the bell rang.

"Totally in love with me." Barry said.

The boys gathered their bags and umbrellas.

"What is that?" Barry asked, looking at Andre's opened umbrella.

Kenny looked at it too. Both of them were trying not to giggle.

Andre blushed. "My mum packed it."

"A teddy bear?" Kenny said.

"My mum…"

"Don't worry, Alvin, we'll get you a new one!" Barry said. "Or you could trade Mort."

"Thanks, and please don't call me that. It's bad enough that Alice does."

"Sorry."

"Guys, it's that man again. He's looking at me." Andre said.

The man was standing in the same place, holding an umbrella this time.

"Maybe it's your Mom's friend, he was looking out for you right?" Kenny asked.

"Henry wouldn't be standing in the rain." Andre said.

"Let's go ask him." Barry said.

"No!" Kenny and Andre shouted as Barry ran across the street.

"Hey YOU! Why are you spying on my friend?" Barry demanded.

"What makes you think I'm spying on him?"

"Because you're staring at him."

"Leave him alone." Kenny whispered, trying to tug Barry's jacket. Barry shook him off.

"What do you want?" Barry asked.

"I think it'll be clear in due time." The man said.

"Barry." Andre groaned, also tugging Barry.

"Make it clear now." Barry growled.

"Barry, come on." Kenny said.

"Let's get out of here." Andre said. "Just leave him."

"I'd listen to your friends if I were you." The man said.

"Is that a threat?" Barry asked loudly.

"KENNY!"

The boys whipped around to find Kowalski hurrying towards them.

"Hey."

"Why were you talking to a stranger?" Kowalski demanded. "It's cold and soaking out here, get inside so I can scold you properly."

Barry turned to look back at the man, but he had gone.

The boys followed Kowalski inside.

"What were you thinking?" Kowalski asked. "He could have had a gun for all you know. What if he had done something?"

"Why do you care?" Barry snapped.

"If I had ignored you, then I would have to explain to your parents that I let you talk to a stranger and be killed." Kowalski said. "Don't you agree that your parents along with Andre's would be furious if they found out I let three twelve year olds be killed by a stranger wandering the streets?"

Andre bowed his head shamefully. Kenny determinedly stared at a painting on the wall.

"I don't agree." Barry snarled.

"And why is that?"

"Because I don't have parents!"

The others looked at him.

Barry had no response but to run away. He ran to the elevators.

"Did you know this?" Kowalski asked.

Kenny and Andre shook their heads.

"Alright, let's go talk to him." Kowalski sighed, leading them to the elevators.

"Uh, Kowalski." Andre said.

"Not now."

"But-"

"Give me a minute to think."

Andre shrugged.

They walked into the elevator.

"Kowalski." Andre said again.

"What?"

"We're…not alone."

Kowalski looked around and blushed. "H-hi."

"Hello, Kowalski." Doris said.

"I tried to tell him." Andre whispered to Kenny.

Kenny nodded.

It was an awkward ride. When they had reached the third floor, Kenny nudged his brother in the ribs to make him remember what he was doing. Andre waved to Doris as the doors closed again.

Kowalski was still pink when they reached their destination.

"Barry?" Kowalski said once they were in.

"Unless you live here, get out." Barry called.

Kowalski decided to talk to Barry while the other two stayed in the living room.

"What do you think that guy wanted?" Kenny asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I don't know, but he looked strangely familiar. I feel like I've met him before." Andre said.

"Really, in England?"

"Actually, in France. My mum and I went to visit some cousins when I was three and I think I saw him."

"Did he do anything?"

"No, I think I saw him enter our bakery once. He spoke to Dad, but I don't know what they talked about. I asked Dad and he didn't want to tell me."

"I think he knows something about that guy."

Andre was about to express his agreement when Kowalski and Barry came out.

"Would you like to explain?" Kowalski asked kindly.

Barry took a deep breath. "When I was born, my sister was nine years old. My parents were never really happy together. They were planning on getting a divorce when my dad died in a car crash. I was five and my sister was fourteen. My mom's health had been getting worse through the years and my sister was left to take care of us. She got into trouble when she was sixteen for drinking at a party. My mom was pretty mad. My mom died a year later of liver and kidney failure. I thought my sister would take care of me…but I was wrong."

He paused. The others were respectfully silent.

Barry inhaled again.

"The day after the funeral she told me she'd dropped out of school. I thought she was brave to do that so she could take care of me. But one day I waited at school for two hours for her to pick me up and…s-she...she never came. I went home and she wasn't there…I called the police and…I wasn't allowed by myself if…if there wasn't anyone there…I didn't have any family left…and they put me in a foster home. No one told me anything after that…I went to the police station to find out…but they said she wasn't found…I changed my personality so I could try to forget but…Kenny and Kowalski came…and Kowalski was like an older sibling…I didn't know how to react…it brought up bad memories…

"I stay in the apartments because I hate going back there. There are too many children and I had to share a room again. I'm allowed at Ramona's or Allie's during the holidays, but I have to go back to the foster homes in the summer. I often go to Ramona's house a few weeks before school. I don't mind sharing a bedroom with Eggy because he doesn't wake me up in the middle of the night or early in the morning. I have to share my room with two of the other foster kids and they're really noisy and annoying. One of them is six years old and he wakes me up at midnight just to tell me he has to go potty when he knows he could go by himself. And the other one is a baby and he cries until someone picks him up. It's usually me because there are three other small babies and only two caretakers at night. I love kids, but not when I'm trying to sleep."

"And when I got mad, it hurt because no one would really discipline you." Kowalski said.

"Yeah, I hardly get disciplined because of all the other kids. I'm the oldest there and the most ignored. I'm not ignored on purpose, it's just because everyone else is so busy. I make the other kids laugh. That's when I enjoy their company, when I can make them laugh and not when they're whiny."

He avoided eye contact until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Kenny.

"Barry, you know we'd never judge you, right?" He said.

Barry nodded slowly.

"Then don't be afraid." Andre said. "We're your friends."

"When you said you wanted to leave, I thought it was my fault…I drove someone away again…"

"Nah, Hunter's good company." Andre said. "And tell you what; you can come to my house whenever you want."

"Really?" Barry asked, a familiar grin on his face.

"Yeah, as long as you don't mind taking your shoes off before you go upstairs. Mum's afraid if we jump with our shoes on, the ceiling will fall down. Dad says it's just polite."

"Could I come?" Kenny asked.

"Sure, if your dad doesn't mind. Maybe you could come during the break." Andre said.

Kenny grinned.

"Kenny, I need to talk to you for minute." Kowalski said.

Kenny's smile faded.

"Wanna see my room?" Barry asked.

"Okay." Andre said, knowing the two brothers needed a private conversation.

Barry's half of the room was decorated with posters of the rainforest. There was also a tape outline of a slice of pizza on the wall.

"You like Pokémon?" Andre asked, eyeing Barry's sheets.

"Yup, I defeated all the gym leaders. I also battled against Mort and as the game said 'Trainer Barry battled Trainer Mort and won handily' or something like that. I couldn't believe Mort had six badges when we played. Guess how many Fred has."

"I don't know, five?"

"Zero. He says he can't get past the guy lying on the ground in Vermilion City." Barry snickered.

"Doesn't he realize you have to get the parcel first?"

"Nope, so I moved on to the next generations. Mort hasn't done anything in Ruby because he doesn't know which Pokémon to choose."

"I chose Mudkip." Andre said. "My friend, Ginger, chose Treecko and my cousin Daniel chose Torchic. We used to play together when it was raining or when there was heavy snow. My mum would only let us play in the snow when it let up a little."

"Which one did you pick for the original?"

"My friends and I cheated the system." Andre said. "We basically came up with nine new trainers and we traded until all three of us had each starter. It was hard to do in Red, Green, and Blue, but easier in Fire Red and Leaf Green."

"I wish I did that, I got by on Bulbasaur." Barry said. "Hey, what are you going to be for Halloween?"

"Were you going trick or treating?"

"Yup, I do it every year. I'm going as a zombie. And cue Leonard freaking out. He actually believes zombies live here. I'm going to scare him on Halloween morning."

"I don't know what I will be yet."

"You can be a banana."

"Where did that come from?"

"I don't know!"

The boys laughed.

"Andre, I forgot we were going to show you the chat room stuff."

"Oh yeah, I have to get my computer though."

"We can go to your room."

"Alright."

The boys opened the door and stepped out.

"But he can't!" Kenny was saying. "It's happened before and you've always been-"

"I know, but what if it did? Then you'd-" Kowalski stopped when he heard Barry and Andre. "Hello, I'm pretty much finished."

Kenny looked pale. "Are you leaving?"

"No. Kowalski, can they come to our room?" Andre asked.

"Why?" Kowalski asked.

"He wants to be in the chat room." Barry said. "And whatever my future wife says, no I am not corrupting him."

"Future- yeah, I'm not even going to ask. You can come up."

The boys cheered as they rushed to the elevator with Kowalski behind them. Andre thought he saw a flash of worry in Kowalski's pale face. Kenny looked scared, but he smiled at Andre. Kenny and Barry brought their own laptops.

Andre sat on the bed with Kenny and Barry on either side of him. Barry located the website and smiled.

"Now you put things on your profile. No email will be shown unless you want it to." Barry said.

"Name, Andre Davis. Grade, sixth. Favorite color, blue. Favorite TV show, Lunacorns-"

"WHOA!" Kenny said. "You CANNOT put that there."

"Why not, it's the truth." Andre said.

"You don't have to be truthful." Barry said.

"Fine." Andre said and he got rid of it. "I'll put Pokémon, is that okay?"

"Yes." Barry said.

"Now you come up with a name and join a chat room. Or go to the general room."

"Hmm…How about babyblue?"

"That says you're a baby. How about blondbaker? Since your family owns a bakery."

Andre considered this. "Alright." He said. "Now what?"

"Say something and people will respond."

**Blondbaker has joined General Chat room:**

**Blondbaker:** Hello, I'm new here.

**Kingcooldude:** Okay, first rule, RESPECT DE CROWN.

"Julien." Barry scoffed.

**DeBarrynator:** No one respects the crown.

**Savetheseals: **Actually, they don't know it's a crown.

**Kentaro:** Hunter's right.

**Theotterlady:** Welcome to the chat room, Andre.

**Blondbaker:** Thanks.

**Mfredi:** Who the heck is Andre?

**Fred:** I don't know, but I had a rabbit named Pisces and it was brown.

"What the heck does the rabbit have to do with anything?" Barry asked.

"I have no idea." Andre said.

"Since when does Fred make sense?" Kowalski asked. Kenny laughed while the others shrugged.

**Blondbaker:** Fred, we met in the elevator.

**Kentaro:** Fred, you know you can change your name right?

**Fred:** But I like the name my mom gave me.

**Buffdude:** Who cares? Anyway, I wanted to talk about someone important. Me.

**DeBarrynator:** Shove off, Johnson.

**Buffdude:** Don't make me hurt you.

**Dramaqueen:** Oh, that's nice.

**Kingcooldude:** Hello, my love.

**Dramaqueen has logged out.**

**Kentaro:** He scared another one away.

**Throbbingcerebellum:** Don't you have homework to do?

**DeBarrynator:** Haha, your name…

Kowalski glared at Barry.

"It's funny!" Barry said defensively.

**Mfredi:** WILL SOMEONE TELL ME WHO THE HECK ANDRE IS?

**Buffdude:** An orphaned nobody who no one cares about

**Kentaro:** HE IS NOT!

**DeBarrynator:** Johnson, I will destroy you.

**Theotterlady:** That wasn't nice, Johnson.

**Buffdude:** Want to make out?

**Captain:** Not on your life.

**Savetheseals:** SAVE THE SEALS!

**Buffdude:** Get out, weirdo.

**Theotterlady:** Leave her alone and I will NEVER kiss you.

**Buffdude:** One kiss? Then you'll see we're meant to be.

**Savetheseals: **THINK ABOUT ENDANGERED ANTARCTIC ANIMALS

**Buffdude:** No one cares about your pathetic campaign. On to important issues. Marlene, please date me.

**Theotterlady:** How many times do I have to tell you?

**Buffdude:** Just one little date?

**Captain:** Leave her alone.

**Savetheseals:** OH HOW THEY CRY, THEY CRY FOR US TO SAVE THEM! POOR LITTLE PENGUINS ARE STUCK IN OIL FIELDS. HARK! WHAT AN ENDING! BUT WAIT, YOU CAN HELP! I WANT YOUR HELP. THEY WANT YOUR HELP.

**Buffdude:** Well I want to curse, but there are children here so GET THE HECK OUT.

**Captain: **It might interest you to know that I am the moderator on this board.

**Buffdude:** Wait, what?

**Moderator has terminated chat. Final message: Save the Antarctic and have a nice day.**

Andre looked up. Barry was visibly shaking and Kenny was glowering at the screen.

"Ignore him." Kowalski said. "He's being a jerk."

"Does he know?" Barry asked weakly.

"Not unless you told anyone other than us." Kowalski said.

"No, Ramona and Allie think I live with my sister. I haven't said anything else."

"Do you have questions about the chat room?" Kenny asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Who's Captain?" Andre asked.

"That would be Skipper." Kowalski answered.

"I'm going to my room." Barry said hoarsely, closing his laptop.

Kenny decided to accompany him in case he tried to make a break for Johnson's room to destroy him.

"Kowalski, I'm sorry about what happened." Andre said.

"It's not your fault; things can get intense on chat-"

"I meant with Doris."

Kowalski blushed "It's not your fault." He said. "I-I'm foolishly in love..."

He studied Andre for a moment. "Did you think I was angry?" he asked.

Andre nodded. "You guys hate me."

"What? That's not true." Kowalski said. "We're all not sure of each other yet."

"Kowalski, that man was staring at me before."

"I know, I saw him too. He was watching us. I'm pretty sure he was watching Skipper too."

"What if he's watching the four of us?"

"We'll ignore him for now. I want you walking with Kenny and Barry from now on and don't talk to that man."

Andre nodded. "Alright, but what if he talks to us?"

"Ignore him and keep going."

"Should we tell Skipper?"

"Not until I'm sure he's being watched as well."

Andre sighed. "Alright."

When the lights turned out for the night, Andre was thinking. Thinking about his roommates and what was said about them. He looked to where Kowalski was, wondering if he could ask.

"Kowalski?"

"Huh?" Kowalski said.

"What's Rico's home life like?"

"I…I don't think he'd like me talking about it without his permission. Why? Did someone tell you something?"

Andre told him what Julien, Barry, Kenny, and the boy in class had said.

Kowalski scoffed. "As a matter of fact, he's pretty nice once you get to know him. He's just lonely. I know he has a stepmother at home who's…well she's afraid of him. She's afraid of the rumors of the town."

"Do you live near him?"

"No, I live in Bayfield, Wisconsin. He lives in Kirksville, Missouri. He lived there with his sister and his dad for a while. Rikki was born blind if Julien told you a wacky story otherwise, don't believe him. Contrary to popular belief, he's never held a gun in his life."

"How did his mum die?"

"That's a bit personal, you should ask him."

"How do I ask him without being afraid of him and Skipper?"

"Why are you afraid of Skipper?"

"Are you?"

"Er…well…a little. But I think it's mostly because he has so much authority in his voice. He's the grandson and son of war veterans so it's turned him out to be a bit militaristic. If you hang around his family, you'll find out they're all pretty much like that. But they're also nice."

"I'm kind of afraid to ask, but what about you and Kenny?"

Kowalski was silent so long; Andre thought he'd fallen asleep.

"Our father is…strict…in a word…and he sent us out here…" Kowalski stopped.

"Kenny hasn't been eating so much."

Kowalski didn't answer.

"I was just concerned about his health."

"I'm sure he'll be fine." Kowalski said, but there was something odd in the way he said it.

"Will you be fine?"

"I'm sorry; I have to use the restroom." He got up and exited.

Andre bit his lip; he thought he'd gotten too personal.

By the time Kowalski had returned, Andre had fallen asleep.


	7. The comment

"Andre…"

Sleeping.

"Andre."

Still sleeping.

"Andre!"

Still sleep-

"ANDRE!"

Startled, the boy twisted around in his sheets and promptly fell on the floor.

"Morning, sleepyhead!"

Andre groaned.

"Come on, we have lots to do today."

"Idunwanna…"

Someone was attempting to pull the tangled sheets off of him.

"We're burning daylight, come ON!"

Andre pushed himself up and rubbed his sore head. "Did you have to shout so loudly?" he asked.

"Yup, now come on!"

He finally looked to see who had woken him so abruptly. "Of course it's you." He groaned. "How did you get in here?"

Barry grinned. "Kowalski let me and Kenny in."

Andre looked to Kowalski's bed which was vacated and had Kenny standing in front of it.

"You couldn't have made sure I didn't fall?" Andre complained, detangling himself further.

"Nope." Kenny said with a grin. "Today, we're doing a bunch of things before it starts to rain."

"And you're lucky we've crossed out swimming since it's so cold." Barry said. "Now come on!" he pulled Andre's arm. "Get up, shower, get dressed and brush your teeth."

"What happened to a Saturday sleep in?"

"It's eleven in the morning, that's long enough." Kenny said.

Both boys pulled Andre to a stand.

"I was having a nice dream." Andre complained.

"Write about it in your blog, let's GO!" Barry said.

"Alright, alright!"

"Good." Kenny said.

Andre glared at them while he gathered fresh clothes.

"Can't let me sleep…has to shout…why I oughta…" he muttered on his way to the bathroom.

Kenny and Barry exchanged high fives.

"You got him up, congratulations." Kowalski said from the doorway. "But you do realize that he's going to take longer in the bathroom?"

"No he's not." Barry said, rushing to the door. "ANDRE! ARE YOU IN THE SHOWER YET?!"

"Why's that any of your business?"

"Because we got to go!"

"Fine, I'll catch up. I haven't even started the water yet."

"We'll wait, don't make it too long."

Andre groaned loudly.

"Hey where are Rico and Skipper?" Kenny wondered.

"Rico's at the gym and Skipper went for a run around the block." Kowalski answered. "And I've got to get to the lobby for tutoring."

Barry smiled at Kenny. Kowalski didn't notice this and left with his bag.

"Oh no, I know that look." Kenny said. "What is your poisonous little brain up to?"

"Oh nothing." Barry said, inching backwards.

Kenny looked up. "No. No way. I won't let you-"

"They're not going to know."

"But I will know, and Andre too."

"Nope."

"It's an invasion of privacy."

"I'm going in."

"You could get in trouble."

"Chicken."

"You will get in trouble."

"Chicken."

"Skipper could be back any minute."

"A quick glance."

"I'm surprised you know what glance means."

"So that's a yes."

"NO! Don't go in there."

"Chicken."

"Stop that."

"Kenny's a chicken, Kenny's a chicken, Kenny's a CHICKEN!"

"Shut up."

"Look."

Barry backed into Skipper and Rico's room. "Hey, no deadly lasers."

Kenny groaned. "I refuse to accompany you. I'll tell people I tried to stop you."

"When?"

"At your funeral."

"Haha funny, get in here." He grabbed Kenny and pulled him into the room.

Kenny squeezed his eyes shut. "What does it look like? The scary lair, is it deadly?"

"Open your eyes, dolt."

Kenny opened his eyes. The room was dimly lit by the cloudy sky and it was partially messy. Skipper had his mug on his desk and a green hat lay next to it.

Rico's desk had papers messily thrown onto it. There was a bag of chips on top of a stack and a sock on his desk lamp. His computer was open and showed his firecracker wallpaper.

The wall on Skipper's side had a poster of Uncle Sam and some pictures of his family. Rico's side was blank except for a lone picture close to his pillow. Before Kenny could get a closer look, he noticed where Barry was.

"Get off his computer." Kenny hissed.

"No way, I'm about to uncover the mystery of Rico." Barry said.

"And then people will want to solve the mystery of how your skeleton ended up in the Sahara desert!"

Barry shook his head and continued.

"Come on, let's get out of here and hang with Andre." Kenny said, pulling on Barry's arm.

"No, I'm staying here." Barry said, shaking Kenny off. "Ooh, Facebook."

"ANDRE!" Kenny screamed at the top of his lungs.

Barry snapped up and clapped a hand over Kenny's mouth. "What the heck are you doing?" Barry growled. "Are you trying to get Rico to come up here?"

"No, I'm trying to get Andre to come out so we can leave. Going on his Facebook profile is like looking at another person's test, it's unfair and against the rules." Kenny said once he'd shoved Barry's arm away.

"It's just looking at his profile; we do it all the time."

"Yeah, from the safety of our own computers, not someone else's. From this angle it's like going into records and illegally taking out information on others. Don't be stupid, Barry."

"Is everything okay?" Andre called from the bathroom.

"Fine!" Barry shouted back. "It's all good, right?" he asked Kenny.

"Get off his Facebook page and let's go." Kenny said.

"Alright, I'll do it. Hey, can you see if I left my key in Andre's room?"

"Okay."

Kenny's search came up empty and he shrugged. "Hey it's not in- what are you doing?" He spotted Barry typing on the computer. "You better be checking the weather and not what I think you're doing."

Barry grinned sheepishly.

"ARE YOU AN IDIOT?!" Kenny bellowed, pulling Barry off the chair with all his strength. This ended up in both of them tumbling to the ground.

"What's going on?" Andre asked, appearing at the doorway. "What are you two doing in here?" He spotted Rico's computer and gasped. "Are you insane? That's private property-"

"That's what I tried to tell him." Barry grunted as he lifted himself off the ground.

Kenny looked livid. "You LIAR!" He lunged at Barry, but was stopped by Andre.

"Stop it, just stop what you're doing and let's get out of here." Andre said. "I don't care who started it, I'm stopping it."

"What. You. Doing?" A fierce low voice rasped from behind.

They looked around to see a sweaty and angry Rico.

"Aw crud." Barry squeaked.

Rico stared into each of their faces with fury etched in his own face.

"Y-you c-can talk?" Andre stuttered. He felt like he could practically feel the fire emanating from Rico's eyes.

Rico's response was to continue glaring until he spotted his open computer. He gasped and pushed them out of the way to see it. He seemed to become angrier as his face, ears and neck turned dark red.

Barry's face turned a greenish color. "I think I'll be go- RUN!" He screamed, bolting crazily to the door. "Guys, hurry!"

Rico let out a scream of frustration.

Andre had stopped when he realized that Kenny wasn't moving.

Kenny was stock still, his face paler than ever and his eyes were wide with terror.

Barry and Andre rushed forward, trying to pull Kenny back, but he was like a rock.

Rico advanced on them with his hands balled into fists.

"Come on, before he catches us." Barry said. "Aw, let's leave him. He can't catch all three of us anyway." He released Kenny and ran back to the door.

"How could you leave him?!" Andre said.

"He's not moving!" Barry said. He was about to open the door when Skipper came in as sweaty as Rico.

"Who's not moving?" Skipper asked with an amused expression.

"I KNOW NOTHING!" Barry screamed, darting down the hallway.

"I didn't know." Andre said as Skipper came closer.

Skipper's expression quickly changed to a scowl. "What's going on?" he demanded as he walked into his room.

He saw Andre right inside the door and Rico holding the front of Kenny's shirt. Kenny started shaking terribly. Tears were forming in his eyes.

"Kenny?" Skipper said. "Are you alright?"

Kenny didn't respond. Rico let go and Kenny fainted. Rico barely managed to catch Kenny again and carried him to the couch.

Skipper looked at Rico's computer and rolled his eyes.

"Private, what's going on here?"

"Stop calling me that." Andre snapped.

"Don't talk to me that way; just tell me what you were doing on the computer."

"I was taking a shower when those two decided to barge in and I don't know what they did. I walked in on them when Kenny pulled Barry off. Kenny screamed for me before so I think it's all Barry's fault."

"No, you let them into our room. Do you know what Barry wrote about Rico?" Skipper snarled.

"W-What? That's completely- I was showering!"

"Do you KNOW what that kid wrote about Rico?" Skipper repeated.

"No."

Andre looked at Rico who was trying to wake Kenny up.

Skipper showed Andre his phone. People were already replying to the post.

Andre's gaze turned to the phrase and he gasped.

The status update said **Rico Blue -I am a psychopath, hide your babies. Don't believe me, ask my dead mother.**

"Y-you think this is my fault?" Andre said with teary eyes.

Skipper didn't answer. "Rico, take Kenny back to his room when he wakes up. Mr. Davis is not to see him for the rest of the day."

"You can't do that!" Andre said.

"Yes I can." Skipper said with a tone of finality. He left a shaking Andre as he entered his room.

Kowalski had come back around three in the afternoon and was stunned to discover what had occurred. He had a talk with Kenny and he scolded Barry before coming back to Andre.

It had started to rain by then.

"Hey, you alright?" Kowalski asked.

"Fine." Andre said emotionlessly.

"Alright, I got to help Rico. He's getting hate comments. I can't believe Barry did that. You should have stopped him."

"Tactless! I was SHOWERING in case you didn't know that."

Kowalski didn't respond.

The rain grew heavier as if to express Rico's frustration which could be heard from the next room and possibly from outside. Skipper was cursing loudly and Kowalski was trying to simmer them down.

It grew darker as the sound of a door shutting was heard by Kowalski. He peeked in the room and then back out again, having assumed Andre went to dinner. Skipper scowled and burst in, noticing something on the bed. It was a note.

Skipper uttered a curse before dashing out of the apartment without a word.

Rico came in, looking puzzled. He and Kowalski looked at the note:

_In case you didn't know yet, I have decided to run away. I am no longer wanted or needed here. You don't care if I get followed and possibly killed by a crazy stranger. You don't care, period. I won't go back home, but I will instead go live with Henry. FYI- his daughters would have known I wasn't to blame and they're less than three years old. I hate you all and even more for making me say that._

_No longer your burden,_

_Andre_


	8. Rico's struggle

He stepped off the elevator as white as sheet. His bag was heavy, but he tried to drag it behind. He heard thudding footfalls from the staircase and a shout. Knowing what it might be, he hurried across the lobby, no one stopped him. He turned and caught sight of the stairwell door opening. He knew who it was. Heart leaping with fright, he abandoned his bag and shot out into the dark city. The rain pounded on him and he shivered, but he kept going.

Where he was going, he didn't know. He ran across the street and into the park. The grass was slippery with rain soaked mud. He realized he wasn't wearing a jacket. He heard a shout from behind him, but he ignored it. He kept running.

He knew someone was following, but he was determined to shake him off. The problem was that he didn't know the park. He slipped on the muddy slope. He thought he heard rain hitting water, but he also heard his name behind him.

He gave a start and slipped on the muddy bank and promptly fell into a lake.

His waterlogged clothes and shoes weighed him down and he was scared. He had fallen into the deep end of the lake, but he didn't know how to swim out. His mother had always been afraid of letting him near water.

Surely this was the end; he couldn't breathe as he struggled upward, his clothes becoming tangled, rain pounding the surface of the water as surely as his heart was pounding for life. His lungs screamed for air and he let out a burst of bubbles, accidentally inhaling. He suddenly felt tightness around his chest. He thought it might be death coming to claim him.

Then quite suddenly, he was face down in the mud and grass. The rain had slowed to a steady drip, but he was soaked. Someone pounded his back and then he coughed up what seemed like half the lake. He heard heavy breathing from close by. The person was coughing too. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder, checking for a pulse. The person turned him over.

He realized his eyes were closed because he could not see. He opened his eyes to find Skipper's pale face looking down at him.

"Speak to me, are you alright? Do you know your name? Home town? Do you know where you are?"

"Yes." Andre said hoarsely, surprised that he could talk. "From…Devon…UK…I'm in…New York…United States…"

"What's your name?" Skipper asked.

"I…am…And- Private."

He thought he saw a smile on Skipper's face, but it was too dark to tell. He realized Skipper wasn't wearing shoes or a shirt.

"You do realize clothes weigh you down a bit, right?" Skipper said, holding Andre's shoes. "What were you thinking? You could have died. And before you say it, I do care. I don't want you to die because of me."

"Skipper…"

"Skipper! Andre!" Kowalski's voice called.

"Over here!" Skipper said.

Kowalski found them with a flashlight; he and Rico hurried over.

They pulled Andre to a stand, but he was still tired and weak.

Skipper pulled Andre's arm over his shoulder and held him steady.

Andre still felt dizzy and disoriented, but his feet seemed to know what they were doing as they followed Skipper's lead. He hadn't realized he was cold until someone put a jacket over his body.

"Thanks, Rico." Skipper said.

"So you…don't…hate me?" Andre asked.

"No, we care about you." Kowalski said. "Kenny's told me he's found a best friend in you."

"Some best friend…"

"Private, listen. We were just upset and confused so we took it out on you." Skipper said. "You're a pretty good kid."

A smile appeared on the youngest one's face.

He couldn't quite remember how he got dressed and into bed, but he was sure he heard voices before he succumbed to his tiredness.

"All of this is my fault." Skipper said. "Why didn't I listen to him?"

"It was all of us." Kowalski said.

Rico stared at the blond boy, hoping that he knew Rico didn't blame him.

"We overreacted. I want to have Kenny's account of what happened. But first, this one's going to be tired when he wakes up." Skipper nodded towards Andre.

"What about school? We took down the comment, but many people saw it already." Kowalski said. "They'll tear Rico apart."

"Can I tear Barry apart?"

"Skipper, I think we have to let this run its course."

"After we destroy Barry."

"We need to know Kenny's side of the story."

"Then I can destroy-"

"No. You can talk and/or yell at him though. I wanted to come up quickly; I only had time to tell Barry that what he did was wrong."

Andre woke up to a growling stomach and realized it was morning. He heard voices outside and proceeded to investigate. However, he stood up and immediately fell down. Gravity was harsh and his legs were weak.

"Are you alright?" Skipper asked, running into the room.

"Fine…" Andre whispered.

"Kenny's here. Can you come out?"

"Yes…"

Andre leaned on Kenny for support as they went into the main room. Skipper put him on the couch and turned to Kenny who was on the chair.

"I should have known." Kenny was saying. "I didn't see his key fall out and he didn't take it out. Why did I believe him? Why would he do that? Maybe he meant for it to be taken as a prank."

"But he knows what people already think of-"

Kowalski was interrupted by a knock.

Skipper opened the door and groaned. "What do you want?"

Julien peered over. "I want to know if Mort can go in."

"What the heck?"

"You know, it's not a safe place for him. He should be locked up in-"

BOOM!

Skipper slammed the door.

"Ouch."

"I hope that hurt!" Skipper yelled.

"You should know everyone's talking!" Julien yelled through the door.

Skipper opened it and glared at Julien. "What in the name of fried halibut are you talking about?"

"Fried halibut?" Julien laughed.

"Shut up and answer the question."

"Everyone was looking all nervous at breakfast. They're afraid he'll come and kill them."

"They believe the rumors?"

"Oh totally, everyone's talking about it as I said earlier."

Mort peeked into the room and then fled. "Run away!"

"See." Julien said.

"He's Mort."

"Yeah, even the dumbest are afraid."

"So you're afraid?"

"Yup."

"Bye, dummy." Skipper said, shutting the door again. He turned to Rico. "Don't listen to him, no one does."

Rico buried his face in his hands.

"What's going on?" Andre asked after he swallowed. He had been given a muffin and a glass of water from Rico.

"Rico's still getting hate mail. People have found his email and phone number and have been messaging him nonstop." Skipper said. "Kowalski and I have been trying to monitor and set them straight, but they're not stopping. Rico had a phone call from his dad. We explained what happened and he believes us, but his stepmom is worried."

There was another knock at the door.

"If that's Julien again, I swear I'm going to-" He looked through the peephole. "Oh." He opened the door.

Rikki and Hunter came in, followed by Ramona.

"For the record, I don't believe a word of it." Hunter said automatically. "People seem more concerned with this than the threat of animals in Antarctica. I refuse to believe that someone who spent hours of his time creating lovely posters for a good cause would do such a thing."

Rikki was guided towards Rico and sat down next to him with her arms around him.

"Thanks, sis." Rico mumbled. "Thanks, Hunt'r"

"No problem." Hunter said.

"Barry was just being stupid." Skipper said.

"Barry?" Ramona said. "It was Barry?" she looked to Kenny and Andre who nodded.

Ramona turned around and stomped out.

"I better make sure she doesn't literally strangle him." Hunter said, hurrying after Ramona.

"Where's Rocky?" Skipper asked.

"She and Marlene are trying to squash the rumors." Rikki said. "Marlene believes us by the way."

"I always liked her." Skipper said. "So, who does believe us?"

"As far as I know: Me, Rocky, Marlene, Hunter, Ramona, Nat, Izzy, and two other girls who are Marlene and Nat's roommates. I forgot their names. Everyone else either thinks Rico's psychotic or they don't care for rumor but they're not going to stick up for him."

"Maybe it'll die down; you know that school rumors fade over time." Kowalski said.

Contrary to Kowalski's belief, the rumor didn't die down. It appeared to have spread through the building faster than spilled water.

Ramona had cornered Barry and shouted him down. Barry was being avoided by Kenny and Andre.

People were either angry with Barry or Rico.

It wasn't until Thursday that anyone realized it had escalated so far. At lunch time, Rico sat by himself as Skipper was arguing with students in the cafeteria and Kowalski was talking to counselors about online bullying.

Andre had left to refill his water bottle and in the minutes he was gone, Rico had been cornered by a crowd of people.

"Hey, psycho! Stay away from people!"

"You should be locked up!"

"Murderer!"

"How can you still show your face?!"

"Keep him away from children!"

"Don't provoke him, he'll kill you!"

"You horrible monster!"

Andre gasped; he dropped his water bottle and ran. He started pushing his way through the crowd when the first boy punched Rico.

"Stop it!" Andre yelled as another punch landed.

Rico didn't fight back. He was pushed down and simply stared up into the crowd.

Andre managed to slip to the center just as someone kicked Rico in the side.

"STOP IT!" Andre screamed, putting himself in between the boy and Rico. "You leave him alone!"

"Or what? You going to tell on me, sixth grader? You're a baby, a mere child. Get out of here while Rico hasn't murdered you."

"He's not a murderer." Andre said. "That was a rumor started by someone who hacked into his account."

"Get out of the way so I can beat him up." The boy had obviously not listened to Andre.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Andre ducked as a punch was thrown at him.

"Stop." Rico growled, having gotten to his feet.

"It's up!" Someone screamed.

"Rico's a HE not an IT." Andre yelled. He didn't notice another punch headed his way until Rico pushed him away and took the blow.

He fell backwards and his head hit the table.

"Rico!" Andre gasped.

There was a thump and a grunt and Skipper was there, holding the other boy's foot which had been heading for Andre.

Andre hurried towards Rico. "HELP!" He yelled.

Everyone turned to see a familiar red substance running down Andre's hand as he held Rico's head.

Someone screamed and the security team was there. The crowd scattered except for the boy who had kicked Rico. Skipper had a firm grip on the boy.

"No, I won't leave him!" Andre said when Kowalski had run out to find them.

A few moments passed until a wailing siren was heard.

"Ambulance." Skipper said, putting a hand on Andre's shoulder.

Andre cried into Skipper's shoulder as the ambulance took Rico.

Andre cleaned the blood off his hands and agreed to speak with the principal. Needless to say, he was not happy. He made an announcement to the school to say that he was upset at the actions of the students and that the person who'd actually beat up Rico was expelled.

"This was wrong." He said. "I am completely disappointed in all of those who picked on this poor boy. I have been told that this started from a simple comment on Facebook early Saturday afternoon. Someone had managed to gain access to the boy's profile and put this comment online and he was immediately called out by others. This rumor, I hear, has also taken to the streets. That was completely uncalled for. Did you really want to hurt this boy that badly? Did one tiny comment really have to spurn this much violence hatred even though he and his friends have told you it was a lie? It's called cyber-bullying. Somehow there are texts, emails, phone calls and any other electronic means of communications as well as people themselves who are commenting at threatening this boy. Some people can't ignore these comments; it gets to them and tears them apart. I urge you not to focus on rumor, don't laugh at his expense. He's a human being just like you."

Rico had returned to the apartments a few days later. He had ten stitches on his head and was ordered to stay in his room until he felt well enough to return to school. His dad had contacted him, advising him not to get hurt because the hospital bill was a bit expensive. Although Rico knew his dad was trying to be funny, it was true as well.

Rikki explained to the other three how she and Rico wanted to come to New York so badly, they set up a lemonade stand to raise money when they were ten, but it didn't work because they set it up in winter.

Rico decided to work at with his dad at the local auto shop when he was eleven so he could make money. The only part he didn't like was not being able to hold the welding equipment. He hoped he could because he loved the sparks. He had been allowed to hold a chainsaw for five seconds, but not turn it on. As he got older, he finally was able to use the welding tool under careful watch and managed to fix something and nearly set his clothes on fire, by accident of course.

Rikki and her friend set up another lemonade stand which made more money in the spring and summer, plus there were cookies offered which drew in the sweet teeth of children.

Rikki had turned down the initial offer of getting all the money and finally agreed on her friend getting ten percent of the earnings, even though she did more work and it made Rikki guilty. A couple other friends who had helped with the lemonade stand said that she just had to get them all awesome souvenirs and send them pictures.

Four years later with Rico working at the shop, Rikki's lemonade stand, and their dad and stepmother working as hard as they could, they had finally managed to make enough money to send their kids to New York.

"Wow, that's amazing." Andre said. He had listened to Rikki's story while they were in Rico's room Monday night.

Rico was lying in bed with a bandage around his head.

"Yup, I only wish I got to work with power tools." Rikki said.

"That would be terrifying considering you don't even know where to switch it on." Skipper said.

"Why doesn't Rico talk?" Andre asked.

"Vocal problems when he was a kid, he also shoved a quarter in his mouth." Rikki said.

Rico blushed and mumbled something.

"He thought it was a chocolate coin." Skipper said. "But you decided to swallow it whole?"

Rico grinned. "Yup."

"You are insane." Kowalski said.

"Rico, I'm sorry." Kenny said. "I should-"

"No." Rico said. "Not you…not your fault…"

"Really?"

"Yup."

Kenny smiled. "I don't deserve that, but thanks."

There was a ding on Kowalski's computer. He went to investigate and a second later they heard "Good golly!"

"What happened?" Skipper asked.

"More rumor."

Kowalski brought his computer in. "It's the chat rooms, they're having a huge argument."

Skipper looked at the comments and immediately covered Kenny and Andre's eyes. "How could they be saying that?"

"I don't know, but look."

**DeBarrynator:** I NEVER SAID THAT!

**Buffdude:** Scram, we're talking about that psycho!

**Cakerules:** So it's true, he does drugs?

**Kingcooldude:** He looks all gross

**Cakerules:** That's because he's drinking.

**DeBarrynator:** NO HE'S NOT! STOP IT!

**Mfredi:** It's your fault.

**DeBarrynator:** PLEASE STOP, I DIDN'T MEAN TO

**Mfredi:** Yeah, you did. Otherwise you wouldn't have done it.

**DeBarrynator:** I was stupid.

**Danishcool:** Now everyone knows you're a rat and he's PSYCHO!

**DeBarrynator:** STOP IT!

**Buffdude:** Is that all you can say?

**Cakerules:** You're pathetic.

**Kingcooldude:** The psycho started a fight on Thursday.

**Buffdude:** Yup, he's nasty and violent.

**Cakerules:** That's what you get from a psychotic ***

**Mfredi:** I hope he dies

**Bananaman:** ****

**Blondbaker:** There are kids here, stop using that language.

Andre had gotten his laptop and was facing the rest of the room while sitting on Skipper's chair.

**Bananaman:** Stuff it, we saw you running away you crybaby.

**Buffdude:** What, you think the psycho's going to save you?

**Bananaman:** He'd just kill you

**Petey D:** Stop it now. This is a chat room and you shall not offend anybody here.

**Buffdude:** Who are you?

**Petey D:** That is none of your concern. What is the concern is you are now harassing two students online and offline.

**Cakerules:** Why's that any of your business?

**Captain:** Listen to that guy and leave my friend alone.

**Cakerules:** So you're friends with the psycho?

**Petey D:** Stop this. He is a fellow student; did you not hear the principal? I did. Leave these boys alone.

**DeBarrynator:** And I never said he did drugs.

**Blondbaker: **Who's moderating this thing?

**Smartymarty:** Okay, I opened this chat to talk about senior year. I go on the phone with Grandma for twenty minutes and this happens? That's not crackalackin'.

**Blondbaker:** Thank you.

**Moderator has closed chat.**

Rikki looked ready to smack someone, Rico was staring blankly at the ceiling, Kenny was shaking his head, Andre was staring at his computer in horror, and Skipper and Kowalski were exchanging looks.

They stayed that way until there was a small knock on the door.

Andre looked at Skipper as if to ask if they should even bother answering it. Skipper nodded.

Andre closed his laptop and put it on the chair before going to the door.

He saw that a note had been slipped under the door. He picked it up before opening the door. He braced himself for a tirade of questions, but he opened the door to a silent person.

He looked blankly at the boy. "What are you doing here?"

He didn't receive an answer. "I asked what you were doing here." Andre repeated.

"I don't know." Barry answered.

Skipper came to see who was at the door and turned red with anger.

"Haven't you done enough?"

"I never said anything else." Barry said. "I didn't even know it sent."

"What the heck are you talking about?"

"Kenny yanked me out of the chair. I was going to press backspace, but he pulled me so hard I pressed enter." Barry said. "You've got to believe me. I never would have sent it. I-"

"What's he doing here?" Kowalski asked as he entered, followed by Kenny.

"Kenny, do you remember where my hands were when you pulled me?" Barry asked.

"Yeah, writing untrue things about Rico." Kenny said.

"But I didn't press enter. I was going to press backspace when you interrupted me. You made me hit enter. I didn't know it until later when everyone started talking."

"WHAT?!" Kenny and Kowalski shouted.

"You're lying." Kenny said. "I know you are."

"No I'm not; I honestly wouldn't have sent it." Barry said.

"To be fair, you can't expect us to trust you." Kowalski said. "You've had valuable information all this time and you didn't come to us. Did you even explain to Ramona when she yelled at you?"

"No, she was too busy yelling." Barry said. "Honestly, if I wanted Rico to kill me, I'd let him know."

"If this was true, you'd tell Rico." Skipper said.

Barry hesitantly went to Rico's room. He explained what he just told the others and waited.

Rico didn't respond.

"We'll think about this." Kowalski said. "If we decide you're telling the truth, we'll let you know."

"Though it'll be a while before we could trust you again." Andre said.

"If we think you're telling the truth." Skipper added. "Even if you accidentally pushed the button, you still wrote the message."

Barry was about to leave when Andre stopped him. "Did you put this note under our door?" he asked.

"No." Barry said before leaving.

After Rikki and Kenny had left, Andre showed the note to Skipper.

"Meet me on Friday night at 8:00pm in Central Park. Just you four. I'll be wearing the same clothes you saw me in. JB."

"What does that mean?" Kowalski asked.

"I have no idea, but this writing is familiar." Skipper said.

"Yeah, same here. I felt like he wrote to me once." Andre said.

"How can that be possible?" Kowalski asked.

"I don't know." Skipper said.

Rico decided to go to school on Wednesday. He was determined to stay out of fights and simply sat in a classroom or in the gym with Skipper.

Barry was rarely seen over the next few days except for school. Allie and Ramona started hanging around with Kenny as Andre was helping Rico.

Kowalski and Skipper were trying as hard as they could not to punch out the next people to insult Rico. The noise had died down after the principal's warning, but people still avoided Rico. Julien was becoming insufferable as he kept mocking Rico to the point where he got a black eye from Nat who was quickly given a detention. She said it was a detention well deserved for giving Julien a taste of his stupidity.

Friday afternoon came quickly and the boys were preparing to meet whoever JB was. They had tried to salvage some humor by joking that JB could stand for James Bond, Jack Black, Jonas Brothers, jelly beans or Justin Bieber.

"Alright, let's go meet James Bond. Oh, by the way," Skipper said. "What's your name again?"

Andre smiled. "Private. Just call me Private."

"And you're good with that?"

"Yup. Andre was in the past. Private's going to be a whole new person. I think I'll start telling everyone this weekend."

Skipper grinned back. "Welcome to New York, Private."

Rico and Kowalski cheered.

**A/N: Now I can start calling him Private, yay! And does Barry deserve to be forgiven? Is he telling the truth? WHO are they meeting? The next chapter will tell.**

**On a more serious note, cyberbullying and any other sort of bullying is wrong. I felt compelled to say that as this chapter addressed it. I'm sorry for any uncomfortable feelings that may have occurred. Also, I don't like swearing so that's why I put the star things (I don't know what they're really called.)**

**So don't bully others because it's not cool.**

**Skipper: Yeah!**

**Kowalski: Nobody was harmed in the making of this chapter**

**Julien: AH! Paper cut!**

**Kowalski: Except him.**

**Nat: BRING ON THE DRAMA!**

**Julien: Hello, babe.**

**Nat: …moron.**

**Skipper: Harassment of any kind is also uncool. And so is a bunch of other things. What IS cool is staying calm and watching the Penguins of Madagascar.**

**Julien: Eh, never heard of it.**

**Kowalski: I will not react. I will not react-**

**Private: Until next chapter…**

**Rico: 3…2…1…Bye-bye KABOOM!**

**Kowalski: and there goes my lunch…**

**Skipper: And we're out!**


	9. Call me Private

"Why did we agree to do this?" Kowalski asked. He was shivering as they crossed the street to the park.

"It's an adventure." Skipper said. "And I want to know who's been spying on us."

"Hang on, the note said meet him in Central Park."

"Yeah, and?"

"You've lived here your entire life, haven't you noticed this park is huge? Plus it's night time, how are we going to see anything?"

"He'll find us." Skipper said. "And I've lived here a total of seven years, two of which I don't remember."

"Huh?" Private asked. "What do you mean?"

"I lived here at the age of two, moved away when I was four and came back when I was ten." Skipper explained.

"And how do you know this guy isn't going to kill us?" Kowalski said.

"My gut told me."

Kowalski stopped dead with an expression of astonishment. "Your gut?"

"Yeah, my gut instinct. You should try listening to yours sometimes."

Kowalski shook his head and followed Skipper. "I'd rather listen to science and reason."

"We're here." Skipper said.

The others looked around.

"I don't see anyone, do you?" Private asked. Rico shook his head.

"Skipper-"

"Hold on."

They stood in silence. Private checked his watch. The long hand struck twelve and he looked up.

"Hello." A voice said from behind them.

The boys wheeled around to find the same man who had watched them. He had brown hair and green eyes. He was smiling, but not in a creepy way.

"Y-you're punctual." Private squeaked. "Hang on." He looked at the man. "It WAS you. You were at the shop and you…I saw you at my birthday party years ago…you came to speak to Uncle Nigel."

Rico gasped. "You…car…"

"You fixed his car?" Kowalski asked.

"Yeah…was ten…"

"I've seen you too." Kowalski said. "But I can't remember when."

"Why do I know you?" Skipper asked. "Why have we all seen you before?"

"You don't remember?" The man said to Kowalski. "Think back. Think five."

"Five?" Kowalski squinted, trying to remember.

**FLASHBACK**

"_Wheee!"_

"_Kenny, don't stand on that!" Kowalski scolded, pulling his brother down from the rail._

"_But big bwother!" Two year old Kenny complained._

"_No buts, you could have been hurted."_

"_I sowwy."_

"_NATTY!"_

_A small girl ran up to them._

"_What're you want?"_

"_Can you takes Kenny home? I gotta pee."_

"_Okay."_

_Kowalski had finished in the bathroom and decided he needed a drink of water. Despite being tall for his age, the fountain was taller. He picked up a stick and tried to draw a plan to get the water. He finally decided on one._

_He stretched and reached but he couldn't do much more than push the button. Suddenly, he felt something lift him up. Grateful, he drank the water._

_When he was set down, he looked up at the man to see him walking away._

"_Thanks, mister!" Kowalski called._

_The man turned. "No problem, kid. Hey, I got a question. Do you always try to plan things out like you did? You made strategies on how to best get to the fountain water and wrote them in the dirt." He pointed to the marks Kowalski had made with a stick._

"_Um, I'm not really smarts. I just made lines on the dirt."_

"_I think that's pretty smart."_

_Kowalski tilted his head and furrowed his brow which for some reason caused the man to laugh._

"_How old are you?" The boy asked._

"_Twenty, how old are you?"_

"_I-I'm five." He said, taken aback at how the man just told him his age. Usually he wasn't supposed to ask older people how old they were._

"_Cool, I think I'll see you around." The man said, and then he left._

**END FLASHBACK**

"That was you." Kowalski said.

"Yup. Skipper, you saw me once before too."

"Where?" Skipper asked.

"You were about three years old. It was when you lived closer to Central Park. Nearby, really." The man gestured in the general area behind him.

Skipper thought he knew. A memory surfaced.

**FLASHBACK AGAIN**

"_NOOGIE!" A nine year old boy screamed, tackling his three year old brother._

"_STOP IT!" Skipper complained. He wiggled out of his brother's grip and glared. "I'm telling Dad!"_

"_Wait, he's in a meeting!"_

"_DADDY!" He burst into the room followed by his older brother. A group of people looked around at them._

_Skipper blushed._

"_What are you two doing?" Skipper's father asked. He stood up._

_Skipper ran to his dad. "Daddy, Toby's being a meanie."_

"_I am not." Toby said_

"_Boys, I am in the middle of a meeting." He steered his sons towards the door. "Go to your mother with this."_

"_Mr. Sorenson, sir, are these your boys?" An eighteen year old boy said._

"_Yes, but they were not allowed to enter."_

_Toby looked around until he spotted someone familiar. "HEY! He's thirteen, what's he doing here?"_

"_I'm mature, little bro." The thirteen year old said. "Now run along to your trains."_

_Toby blushed._

"_That's enough, Christopher." Mr. Sorenson said. "Toby, stop picking on your little brother."_

"_Aw, he's no fun anyway." Toby said, sticking his tongue out at Chris before leaving._

"_He's something." The eighteen year old said._

_Skipper was looking at his dad with watery eyes. "He was picking on me. And Brian does too sometimes."_

"_You need to learn to stand up to your brothers." Mr. Sorenson said. "I'll tell Chris to start giving you karate lessons and so on. Right now, Daddy's busy. Go on and play with your sister."_

"_Okay." Skipper said. He saw the eighteen year old boy smile at him before the door closed._

**END FLASHBACK**

"So, who are you?" Private asked.

"The name's Johnny Bone, but you can call me Johnny." The man said.

"So, what do you want from us?" Skipper asked.

"Did your dad ever tell you exactly what he did?"

"He said he worked for an agency, but didn't specify." Skipper said.

"Well, boys, follow me." He said.

He pulled out a remote-like device and pushed a button. A hole opened in the ground.

"It's fun if you put your arms up." Johnny said, jumping down the tunnel.

Determined to know more, Skipper jumped in after him.

Rico smiled and followed.

"I don't know about this." Kowalski said.

"I'm sorry." Private said.

"For what?"

"For pushing you."

"You didn't push- Aagh!"

Private had nudged Kowalski into falling down the hole. Private followed with a laugh. He looked up to see the hole close.

They all came out sprawled on the ground. It looked like a laboratory.

Kowalski was about to complain to Private when he saw a giant computer.

"Whoa baby, that thing could power the city!" he ran to it and started exploring.

Rico found a cool ray gun and fired it. It ricocheted off the walls until Johnny threw a jar in its path. The jar shattered. Rico grinned and put it back.

Private found a strange device that looked like a hat. He tried it on. "I see your underpants." He told Kowalski. "Does that say 'I love Doris'?"

Kowalski turned red.

Johnny took the hat. "It's a temporary base of operations. I've come to invite you to our agency. Seeing how you boys worked together as a team made me think you're perfect fits. Also, two of you are related to some of our officers."

"Huh?" Private asked.

"George Sorenson, Nigel Davis, and formerly Andrew Davis."

"What?" Private said. "My dad? But he can't have been."

"I did say formerly. He retired to spend time with his family, but his brother still works for us."

"Uncle Nigel?"

"Yup."

"And you want us to work for you." Skipper said.

"That's it. I invite you four to join us. Our aim is to keep the world safe. It's a secret organization that only the top people in the country know about. Our main target is a man who goes by the name of Dr. Francis Blowhole."

Kowalski snickered. "Francis? Yeah, that's evil. Hahaha…Sorry" he stopped when he saw Johnny's face.

"Will you four join our organization? You would be stationed to guard the citizens of New York as you go to school there."

"Okay, what's it called?" Kowalski asked.

"Do we get cool team names?" Private asked.

"Sure, and it's called the Organization For A Better Society. The name could use changing, but I'm not one to complain." Johnny said. "We're hoping to show everyone how serious we are."

"I think we should join." Skipper said.

Kowalski nodded. "I'd like to help."

"He's my options guy."

Rico smiled. "I do it."

"Me too." Private said. "I think our team name should be Penguin army."

"Why penguins?" Kowalski asked.

"Because they're tough." Skipper said.

"And cute and cuddly." Private added.

"Penguins." Rico said.

"How about The Penguins." Skipper said. "It's generic so no one knows it's serious instead of fun."

"We are The Penguins." Private said.

"The Penguins." Kowalski agreed.

"Yeah!" Rico said.

Johnny smiled at them. He gave them equipment to start their mission and handed Rico a backpack. "You'll find it's roomier than it looks."

**KOWALSKI'S NARRATION**

Sorry to interrupt, but you might be thinking "Why is this being written in a story?" or "How are the stories printed without authorization?"

The thing is, it's completely authorized. Before agreeing to tell this story, I asked each and every person if it was alright. I asked whoever was important to the course of the story if I could put their lives out there in a documentary. I did talk to Rico, Skipper, and Private before coming to meet Melman. I asked if it was okay that I dipped into their personal lives, they agreed. I also asked my brother if he was alright with being a part of this story. None of the names were changed except for last names. The only true last names are mine, Skipper's, Rico's, and Private's.

Everyone is alright with this story being out there so don't worry.

Skipper and the rest of the organization were alright with this as long as I didn't give anything of value away. The organization's name was different so their secrecy could remain so. The underground lab was torn down a year ago so they feel safe revealing it. If I tell you of any inventions, that's because it's outdated now.

Enjoy the rest of the story, and I may come back with side notes.

**END NARRATION**

They were instructed not to tell anyone of this, not even Kenny could know or their families. Only Skipper's parents and siblings were allowed to know along with Private's uncle.

Rico felt odd about that, he'd always told Rikki everything and to keep a secret was like the end of the world.

Johnny said that if Kenny looked like he'd be valuable, then he'd let them know if they could tell him.

Private smiled, he felt different. Defiant. He knew once his mother caught wind of what he was doing, he'd be in trouble. Normally, he'd be scared out of his mind, but he didn't seem to care at the moment. What mattered was that he was free. Free to be himself after twelve years of being treated like a delicate baby by his mother.

He considered getting a haircut and Rico offered. He actually did a good job. Private now had bangs and an almost cartoonish hair style.

Skipper was initially shocked by the change, but accepted it. The boys voted him team leader and Kowalski was his second in command.

Rico's bag was odd. He was able to put his whole arm up to his shoulder inside the bag before he felt the bottom with the tips of his fingers. It looked like a regular green backpack, but it was almost like it could hold a party.

Kowalski said it was all scientific, but refused to explain how. He found an interest in inventing and Skipper allowed this as long as he didn't set the room on fire.

The four of them barely slept that night because they were too excited.

"Boys, I think it's time for some shuteye." Skipper said, yawning.

"Night-night." Rico said.

"Yeah, see you in the morning." Kowalski said.

"Aww, fine." Private said.

CRASH!

Private bolted up to see Rico holding a new ray gun and the remnants of Kowalski's chair.

"Sorry." Rico said.

"Aw man, how are we supposed to explain that to Alice?"

"Leave it to me, boys." Skipper said. He picked up the broken pieces of the chair and left the room.

He returned a few minutes later with a new one. "That poor guy still doesn't know I've had his key since school started." He laughed.

"Julien?" Rico asked.

"Exactly, he doesn't know how to take care of his things. And he won't get in trouble because his dad signs Alice's paycheck."

The boys laughed.

"But what about the key?" Private asked.

"I gave it back; he'll thank the sky spirits and then realize his chair's been blown up." Skipper said. "As I said, he can't get in trouble. And neither can we."

"But he'll blame Rico."

"Not if he was playing monopoly with us."

"Monopoly?"

Skipper got the board game from his room and laid it out on the coffee table.

"There, we played monopoly."

"I want to be the car."

Skipper rolled his eyes. "How about when we actually play it?"

"Alright."

The boys soon fell asleep


	10. Begin Operation: Bug Julien

**A/N: HELLO EVERYONE! Sorry I've been gone so long, I just had to catch up on everything. I might not update as frequently as I like in the next couple weeks with finals quickly approaching. I also put a warning that I'd be on temporary leave in my profile…it's gone now, but I hope you're not mad because I decided to give you this new chapter of We Are The Penguins…Yaaaaay! Please enjoy while I go study. If you're confused, you can refer to the previous chapter.**

"No…"

The voice sounded so far away, but Private could have sworn he heard it. It wasn't time to wake up yet…

"No…"

He felt heavier, being taken back down to earth from the land of dreams. He wasn't supposed to go to school for another couple of hours or something like that…

"NOOOO!"

"What?" Private's eyes snapped open. He heard a whimpering noise, it sounded like a wounded animal.

"NO! LEAVE HIM! NO! STOP!"

Locating the source of the noise, Private jumped out of bed and raced to Kowalski's.

"Wake up. Kowalski, wake up!"

"I WON'T! I WILL NOT LET IT HAPPEN!"

"Then don't, wake up and end the nightmare." Private said. "Skipper, Rico!" he called. He backed away from Kowalski's thrashing limbs.

The door burst open and the other two ran in.

"AAAAAHHH!"

"Kowalski, wake up!" Private yelled. "I don't know what's going on. He just started yelling."

"Kowalski!" Skipper said. "Kowalski, can you hear me?"

"I can't…it hurts…I can't do it…I failed…I couldn't…"

Skipper approached Kowalski as soon as the thrashing died down.

"Kowalski, what's going on? Wake up, man!"

"Help…me…there is no help…I can't…I-"

SLAP!

"Skipper!" Private gasped.

Kowalski bolted up and swung his arms wildly around, one of them making contact with Skipper's side.

"Ow." Skipper said.

"What the heck are you doing?" Kowalski muttered, realizing that he was in his bed.

Rico switched the lights on.

"You were screaming." Skipper said. "It's five in the morning."

"And did I say anything?"

"Kind of."

"I have to use the restroom." Kowalski mumbled, getting up.

"Is it me or is he paler than normal?" Skipper asked.

"I noticed that too." Private said. "Maybe he's sick."

Skipper didn't respond. They were still staring at the doorway when Kowalski came back.

"Hi." Kowalski said. "What's up?"

"Seriously?" Skipper said. "You just screamed your head off then acted like it was nothing."

"It was just a bad dream." Kowalski said. "I had a dream that someone was smashing all my inventions and then smacking me with broken stuff." He said.

"Yeah, what about the part where you said 'leave him'? What was that?" Private said. He could tell that the other two shared his doubt.

"Apparently my invention was a male." Kowalski said.

"I honestly don't believe that." Skipper said. "I'll let you off the hook for now because it's so early and-"

There was a loud knock at the door.

Skipper went to check. "Boys, I think we disturbed the dragon." He said.

The other three came to the door as Skipper opened it. Private yelped.

Alice was livid. Her hair was a mess and she was breathing heavily. Private could have sworn he saw steam coming out of her nostrils.

"What on Earth is going on here?" She snarled.

"Oh you know plate tectonics, life, and stuff…" Kowalski said.

Alice shot him a death glare. "What was with the racket? And do any of you care to explain why I got a call from Julien saying that someone blew up his chair?"

"It's my fault ma'am." Kowalski said, changing his humorous voice to a deep calm one. "I had awoken my roommates with a fair bit of noise. I do not mean to awaken you. As for Julien, I cannot say. Perhaps he had too many frivolous events and his chair just…gave away."

Alice didn't notice Rico and Skipper's grins or Private's shocked expression.

She stammered for a moment, trying to figure out what to say.

"We are not to blame as we were playing a delightful game of Monopoly before retiring to bed." He pointed to the sprawled out game on the table. "As for the dream, it was merely an unconscious stream of thought; I will attempt to calm my inner mind." He finished with a whisper.

"I…just don't let it happen again! I already had to tell you off for yelling on the third floor so just don't do it again!" She said. She huffed back down the hall.

Kowalski closed the door and turned.

Rico and Skipper laughed.

"H-how did you do that?" Private asked. "She looked like she was about to destroy us!"

Kowalski shrugged and returned to his room.

"Never underestimate the Kowalski charm." Skipper said. "I have no idea how he does it, but a few girls have a crush on him."

"Seriously, what would have happened if Kowalski hadn't been there?"

"Alice would have ranted at us until school started, then she'd furiously call our parents." Skipper said. "I've been here longer than Kowalski so I know how Alice is."

"Can he get her to stop calling me Alvin?"

"Maybe." Skipper chuckled. "Or you can talk in a high pitched squeaky voice around her and I'll yell 'Alvin', it'll drive her crazy."

"But we can get in trouble!"

"No, it's not our fault she refuses to call you by your name. So if she's going to call you that, why not have fun with it?"

"Alright, as long as my mum isn't called."

"I can't guarantee that."

"Oddly, I'm okay with that."

Skipper grinned. "And while we're at it, we can drive Julien crazy."

"Yeah." Rico agreed.

"Okay."

"Hey Kowalski, you okay with driving Julien crazy?" Skipper called.

"Sure, as long as we don't get into trouble." Kowalski said.

"You can always turn on the Kowalski charm." Skipper said.

"The what?"

"The Kowalski charm, that's what we call it when you persuade someone to do something."

"Persuasive? Me? You must be confusing me with someone else."

"And he denies it." Skipper said. "Anyway, he's in. As long as Julien drives us crazy, we'll drive him crazy. Step one, take Mort's key."

"What?" Private said.

Skipper pulled a key out of his pocket.

"But-"

"I said I returned Julien's, but I also took Mort's. I want to drive Julien crazy by letting Mort drive him crazy."

Private shook his head.

"Step two…uh…I actually don't know." Skipper scratched his head. "Hey Kowalski, what's step two?"

Kowalski came out with his backpack on. "How about racing him down and taking the last chocolate chip pancakes?"

"Tempting, but we need to let him enjoy that before he gets upset again. Give me more options."

"Taking key parts of his noisemaking machines away."

"Hey, that could work. Private, I'll need you to go down to breakfast, see if all four of them are gone. And save us some pancakes."

"Alright, but won't he be suspicious if you three are gone?" Private said. "He already probably blames Rico for the chair."

"Right, which is why Rico will go with you. Tell us if anyone is headed up and we'll be careful." Skipper said. "Kowalski will take the machine parts and I'll stand guard."

"Aye, Skipper!" Private said. "Can I have your phone number?"

The four of them exchanged numbers and grinned.

"Operation Drive Julien crazy is a go."

Rico and Private nodded and headed out.

"Now we wait for their signal that all is clear." Skipper said.

"Alright."

Rico and Private stepped off into the lobby and headed towards the line. Heads turned to them and quickly looked down when Rico looked at them.

"Gosh, we must look great for them to be jealous." Private said.

Rico laughed, startling a few people nearby. He looked around and nudged Private.

"What? Oh." He saw Maurice and Julien.

Rico texted this to Skipper.

Skipper responded by telling them to look for Mort and Fred.

Private scanned the line as they got closer, but he didn't see them.

"I told you not to do that." A voice said behind them.

"But it was so yummy!"

Private looked back to see Eggy shaking his head and Mort looking upset about something.

Private let Skipper know that Mort was there.

"What happened?" Private asked.

"Genius here decided to eat a crayon." Eggy responded. "And then he threw up in the pool. Alice is not going to be happy."

"Mort, why would you do that?" Private said.

"I don't know!" Mort wailed.

"Mort, what are you doing?" Julien asked. "Hey pal, what did you do to him?" He poked Rico in the chest.

Rico simply stared.

"I asked what you did to him; and why did you explode my chair to tiny bits?"

"Honestly Julien, we were playing Monopoly." Private said. An idea struck him. "Now why don't you erm, go back to your breakfast." He smiled.

"Why are you talking all creepy?" Julien asked. "Never mind, hurry up Mort or we will leave without you."

Private's face was pink.

"I thought I could do that thing Kowalski does." He mumbled.

Rico laughed so hard, people actually scooted away.

"No one can talk their way out of situations like Kowalski." Kenny said. Private hadn't seen him until now. "Hey Andre, when did you get that haircut?"

"Last night." Private said. "Rico did it for me. And do you mind calling me Private?"

"Cool." Kenny said. "Private? Er, okay. Is there a reason why?"

"Yes."

"...Uh…are you going to tell me?"

"Nope."

"Well okay then." Kenny said. "I'll accept that."

"You'd really accept something without explanation?"

"I'm just assuming it's a form of rebellion against your mother."

"Something like that."

"Hey Rico, I'm sorry about-"

Rico waved him off. "Fine." He said.

"Do you think you can do my hair too?" Eggy asked. "My sister keeps saying I look like a girl."

Rico nodded.

"Have any of you seen Fred?" Private asked.

"Fred went to school early." Mort said. "He had a project thingy."

"Oh." Private said.

Rico notified Skipper when the boys weren't paying attention.

"Perfect." Skipper said to Kowalski.

Kowalski grinned.

Skipper opened the door and let Kowalski into the room.

Skipper sat down next to the door and pretended to read. His excuse would be that he was waiting for Kowalski who was taking a while.

Kowalski scoped out the room to make sure no one was there. Then he found the main source of noise. It was a giant stereo and a CD player plugged up to an amplifier.

He pulled out a screwdriver and approached the machines. He took apart some compartments and sighed.

"Okay, it's safe to say that I have no idea what any of these do." He said to himself.

He pulled out some of the wires in all three machines and then left a note that Skipper crafted. He decided to go further and went into Julien's room. He hacked the computer and changed the screen to view a terrifying image and wrote a warning on that too.

He took Julien's iPod as well.

A vibration in his pocket startled him.

"Hello?" he said once he picked it up.

"Warning, Mort's coming up to look for his key." Private said. "He just went into the elevator. Rico's telling Skipper now. Get out of there."

Kowalski left Julien's computer open and prepared to leave, but tripped on the way out and spilled the wires.

He heard an urgent knock on the door.

"I'm coming." He said. Suddenly, he froze; the distant sound of a child singing out of tune was heard.

He gathered the wires and shoved them in his backpack. He was about to open the door when he heard Skipper.

"Oh hello Mort." Skipper greeted loudly.

"Hello, I forgotted my key."

"I think I saw it."

"Really?" Mort asked.

"Yes, you dropped it. I saw it outside, let's look outside that window."

"Oh, okay."

He waited until he heard receding footsteps before opening the door. Skipper was standing behind Mort and pointing outside. Mort had his face to the glass and was looking around. Kowalski took a deep breath, holding the door at its widest before running out. He managed to zip around the corner before the door closed.

"What was that?" Mort said, looking around.

"Oh, it was probably one of the girls going down to breakfast." Skipper said, seeing Kowalski's short message. "Anyway, I was wrong. It must have been a wrapper I saw on the ground."

"Oh, okay." Mort said. "Maurice gived me his key so I can look. Want to help me?"

"I would love to, but I have to go eat. If I don't get breakfast I could faint." Skipper said.

Mort shrugged and entered his room.

Skipper caught up with Kowalski near the elevators. The tall boy was panting and clutching his side.

"Good work." Skipper said.

"Yeah." Kowalski replied.

"What are you two doing?"

The boys looked up to find Marlene there.

"Classified, doll face." Skipper said.

Marlene raised an eyebrow. "And who told you to call me that?"

"The same person who told you to question us."

"Two questions. They were two questions by me and I want you to answer at least one of them."

"Okay, I told myself to call you doll face. I mean your face looks so great it should be on a doll." Skipper said.

Marlene rolled her eyes. "Aren't you two going to be late for the pancakes?" she asked.

"Yes, we are." Skipper said.

"Kowalski, what have you been doing?"

"Breathing." Kowalski said.

Marlene shook her head and pushed a button for the elevator. "So I take it you're not going to tell me what you were doing."

"Simple, I pretended to leave and Kowalski ran after me." Skipper said.

"How come I have the feeling that's not the truth?" Marlene asked as they got on the elevator.

"Because you never believe anything I say."

"That's so not true." Marlene said. "I totally believe you!"

"Okay, then believe me when I say you don't want to know."

"Now I really want to know."

"Well, stop then."

"What aren't you telling me?"

"You smell like oranges."

"Huh?"

"I like oranges."

Marlene blushed. "Gee, thanks."

"Oh, and watch out for the guy who has an obsession with you." Skipper added.

"Right, he can't leave me alone in the chat room either."

"Tell me if you want me to threaten him. I already threatened Ju- nothing." He looked away.

Marlene looked suspicious.

"He means yesterday." Kowalski said. "When Julien didn't stop bugging Rico."

"Oh, how is he?" She asked, forgetting she was suspicious. "I hate the fact that they were being mean to him. Do you know who that Petey kid is? He stuck up for Rico."

"No, but we all have usernames so it might be a random name." Kowalski said.

"YES!" Skipper said once they arrived. "I'm hungry!"

"Hang on, wasn't I asking him about something else?" Marlene asked as Skipper joined the line.

"I don't recall." Kowalski said. "However, we have missed out on pancakes of the chocolate chip variety."

"That's alright, I'll settle for waffles." Marlene said. "And you do realize I'm not going to let you two off. I won't tell anybody, but I will find out." She said, giving them stern looks.

"Sure you will." Skipper said. He found Private and Rico and smiled to indicate the mission was a success.

"How do you do it?" Marlene asked.

"Do what?"

"You manage to infuriate me, yet I want to laugh."

Skipper shrugged and returned to find himself at the front of the line. Once they got their food, Skipper and Kowalski joined Private, Rico, and Kenny's table. Marlene had gone to sit with some friends.

"Oh boy, I'm stuffed." Kowalski said.

Skipper gave him a look. "A small bowl of fruit? Are you sure that'll satisfy you until lunch time?"

"Yes." Kowalski said blankly. "Kenny, finish your apple."

"But I'm done." Kenny said. "I ate two waffles and I'm finished."

"And you took one bite of your apple. I don't want you to leave until it's left with its core."

Kenny was about to respond, but Kowalski gave him a look.

"Well, Rico and I will head out now." Skipper said. "You coming, Private?"

"Yeah." Private said. "See you soon."

"Bye." Kenny said.

"You!"

Private looked around to find Alice marching towards him.

"Yes?" Private squeaked.

"Tell me the real reason that Julien's chair broke and how did his key suddenly appear?" Alice asked. "Why is Mort now looking for his? I know you and your friends have something to do with this, Alvin, and I will find out."

"But Alice-"

"Do you know who's to blame?"

"N-no."

"Was it Skipper? Or Rico? Tell me now, Alvin."

"It was Theodore."

"Who?"

Skipper inhaled deeply. "ALVIIIIIIIIIIIIN!" He yelled.

"Dave needs me, gotta go!" Private said, zipping out with Skipper and Rico.

The three of them laughed as they walked down the street.

"Nice going." Skipper said. "Next time, Kowalski can be Simon and Rico will be Theodore."

"And then technically, I told the truth." Private said. "Theodore, aka Rico, did it."

Kowalski and Kenny caught up to them a few minutes later.

"What did you three do?" Kowalski asked.

"Alice looked like she wanted to strangle someone." Kenny said.

"We played Monopoly with Alvin." Skipper responded.

Kowalski snickered, but Kenny didn't get it.

"I'm Andre, not Alvin." Private said.

"Oh!" Kenny said, and then he burst out laughing. "That's why Skipper yelled."

"We decided to play along when she calls him Alvin. I have a pretty loud voice so I'm Dave." Skipper said. "Rico's Theodore and Kowalski's Simon."

"No." Kowalski said curtly.

"Whoa, no need to freeze us out, what happened?"

"I. Hate. Simon." He said with clenched teeth.

"What?!" Private said. "How can you hate a little furry chipmunk?"

"Not that Simon." Kowalski snapped.

"Calm down and I'll explain." Skipper said. "Simon's this kid from another school. Supposedly he's talented and brilliant. He also irks Kowalski."

"He is NOT smart. I will beat him in EVERYTHING and when the time comes I shall win the local science fair and the academic decathlon and I WILL BEAT HIM IN A STINKIN' CHESS GAME!" Kowalski was breathing heavily now. "I am the best. He thinks he's so great with his perfect teeth and perfect life and perfect name and perfect- I WILL DESTROY-"

"KOWALSKI!" Kenny shouted.

Kowalski closed his mouth and turned pink.

"Simon Simone, yes it's odd that his last name is almost his first name." Skipper said. "But he's pretty well liked. I personally think he's an android."

"Stupid Simon, he thinks he's so smart…" Kowalski grumbled. "I'll show him…stupid pretty boy…I will show him…going down…so far down it's not even funny…"

Kenny shook his head when Private opened his mouth to respond.

The younger boys headed to their area of the school while the older boys headed to the high school.

"So are you going to tell the teachers to call you Private?" Kenny asked.

"Yup, do they accept name changes?"

"Our Math and History teachers will ask but most likely won't mind, Science might be hard to convince, PE teacher calls you by last name anyway, study skills supervisors don't care as long as they can help you, and I have no idea about your English teacher."

"What about Allie and Ramona and…the others."

"Classmates don't care what you call yourself. Ramona will probably laugh at it for a minute before taking you seriously and I don't know Allie that much. But if you're trying to keep a cover, than Andre's good."

"No, I want to completely change from a shy kid into an independent boy."

"Alright then, but some people will call you Andre."

"That's fine."


	11. Accepted and Unexpected

**A/N: Here's another chapter for you to enjoy. I'm not going to update every day, it's more like whenever I can…it's unpredictable! By the way, I said Mort was eight in chapter one, but he's actually TEN years old, sorry for the confusion. Your feature presentation begins now…**

As Kenny predicted, most of the class didn't really care. Mr. Campbell caused the class to erupt into laughter when he introduced Private by saying that sadly Andre had to return home, but his identical twin that is just like him is here to replace him.

Their history teacher was curious, but accepted Private's reason of wanting to be independent. She said that she too expressed a name change when she was younger and also got her ears pierced without her parents' permission. She told him that her parents soon accepted that she wanted independence and helped her become a teacher.

The Science teacher was harder to convince as she asked a million questions about why the sweet little boy was acting strange. Private told her that he'd gone through a tough time and grew from the experience. She resolved to accept this and told him she'd try to call him Private, but not write it on the roll sheet. She mainly called him Andre, but he didn't mind.

Kenny was correct about their PE teacher calling them by their last names so Private decided not to bother him with it. He knew their faces by then and could tell which student was not there.

Private's English teacher refused to call him by his new name. She was worried that he might be sick or something might be wrong because of an abrupt change. He calmed her down by smiling and telling her that it was just a new name he wanted to try out. She kept a close watch on him, still refusing to call him Private.

Study hall really didn't care what you were called as long as the tutors and the teacher supervising could be of help.

Allie had accepted this without question.

"Why?"

"Well, now our initials spell park." Allie answered when Kenny asked.

"Huh?"

"Private, Allie, Ramona, and Kenny. PARK." She said.

Ramona grinned. "Yup, I think that's awesome!" she said. "Now I don't have any other reason to question you."

"Hang on, are we forgetting someone?" Allie asked.

Kenny groaned. "Did you hear-?"

"Yes I heard and I was very upset with him." Allie said. "However, he confided in me his side of the story and I think you should give him another chance."

"Does he know what happened to Rico?" Private said. "He bled on me…I was terrified…I thought he wasn't going to make it…"

"Barry told us the truth a week ago." Kenny said. "If it's true then it's my fault too."

"It's more his fault." Ramona growled. "He wrote it, but he doesn't deserve what that jerk said to him Friday night."

"What?" Private said. "What happened?"

"These nasty jerks cornered Barry after dinner and called him so many nasty things that I thought Eggy was going to have dents in his head because I was covering his ears so tightly."

"So that's why he was rubbing his ears." Kenny said.

"Yeah, I don't know what we should do about Barry." Ramona looked over to the boy who was staring at his book. "Is he even studying?"

"No, I passed back the History quiz from last Friday and he did terribly. I pretended to be confused, but I know it was him. You guys did well; even Andre got a B even though he'd been worrying about Rico. Barry just failed. And I know he knew the answers. He'd gotten the review questions correct when we were doing a group review. I only had to help him with three things."

"And he finished really fast." Ramona said. "You don't think he failed on purpose, do you?"

"I don't know. How was he in English class?" Allie said.

"We don't have the same English class." Private said.

"Same here." Ramona said.

"He takes English at the same time that Andr-uh-Private and I take Science." Kenny said.

The four of them watched Barry for a while. He never looked up.

"Have you seen him in the dining hall recently?" Ramona asked.

"Yes, he gets dressed really fast and eats at a corner table where barely anyone can see him." Kenny said. "He hasn't spoken to me in ages. Izzy says to relax and when it's time then the time will come that we shall come back to terms with him. Leonard doesn't want to talk to Barry or see Rico."

"Izzy is weird." Ramona said. "He is so nice, but I have to wonder sometimes if his parents dropped him on the head when he was a baby."

"I have a question." Private piped up.

"Shoot." Kenny said.

"What's up between Julien and that girl…what's her name?"

"Nat?" Allie asked. Private nodded and the girls giggled.

Kenny tried to hide a snicker.

"Yes, her." Private said.

"Well, you'd have to ask Kowalski or Nat for the full story, but Julien's hopelessly in love with her over something that happened. I don't know exactly what happened because I wasn't there. You can also ask Marlene." Kenny said.

"We don't know either; we just think Julien was crazy. You also have to ask Kowalski about Izzy." Ramona said.

"No, you can ask him." Allie said. "Or you can ask Kenny."

Kenny blushed. "Izzy is super nice because he doesn't want to show his mean side."

"He has a mean side?" Private asked.

"I've seen it once and it was when my brother was in second grade. They were eight and I was five." Kenny took a deep breath. "Some kid was pushing Kowalski around and Nat got angry. Yeah, Nat was there. Nat tried defending Kowalski and ended up getting punched by the bigger kid, I think he was a fifth grader. Anyway, Izzy flipped out and I have no idea what happened, but the boy ended up face down on the grass and covered in mud with his hands held behind his back by Izzy."

"Oh dear." Allie said.

"Then what happened?" Private asked.

"Izzy smiled like nothing happened and said 'Now I don't know about you, but I feel much better. Let's not fight.' And then he walked away."

"He just walked away?"

"Yes sir, he did. I don't remember if he got into trouble for it because he moved to New York a week later and I didn't get a chance to ask him. If the bigger kid was upset, he didn't complain. All I know is that my brother and Nat were not bothered by him from then on. Maybe the kid had a revelation or maybe he was afraid that Izzy would come back or possibly he was embarrassed by having his butt kicked by a second grader."

The other three stared at Kenny with their mouths open.

"Unbelievable, right?" Kenny said. "One moment he was a tiny second grader who hated bullying and violence of any sort, the next moment he had a giant fifth grader pinned to the grassy ground of the soccer field. And trust me when I say giant. The big guy was tall and a bit wide. All three of them could easily have used him for shade from the sun. And Izzy was tiny for a second grader. He wasn't super skinny, but he was short. He could have passed for a six year old. He was a few inches taller than me and I was tall for my age. Both of us could have been just entering first grade."

"Both you and Kowalski were tall five year olds." Private said.

"Yup, most people thought we might be fraternal twins because we were less than a foot apart in height, but Kowalski started growing faster when he was ten and now he looks like he could be in eleventh or twelfth grade. He's taller than Rico." Kenny said.

"I noticed that, but Kowalski's only a freshman, right?" Private said.

"Yup, he and Skipper are the same age, Skipper's actually a few months older than Kowalski."

"Hey Ramona, how come you're not in seventh grade?" Allie asked. "You're almost thirteen."

"My parents were going through a tough time and I couldn't start school until I was seven. Technically I went to Preschool, but my mom pulled me out before I got to Kindergarten. My brothers and I were in a Preschool/Kindergarten classroom for one year until I moved to first grade. I've always been older than the class, but I didn't get to skip grades until later, then I declined because my best friend was in the same grade. And that would be Allie here." Ramona said.

"I'm sorry you went through a tough time, but it's like fate." Private said. "We wouldn't have become good friends if you hadn't been delayed in getting to Kindergarten."

Ramona smiled sadly.

"Back to the topic of Barry." Allie said, looking back at Barry. He had closed his book and stared at the front cover as if it would give him the answer to life's mysteries.

"We should talk to him." Kenny said, picking up on the change of subject.

The four of them approached Barry. The boy seemed to stiffen and stare harder at his book.

"When I was four, I lost our dog." Ramona said. Barry shifted his gaze to the table. "My mom was taking a nap and my dad was at work and the babysitter wasn't due to come for another twenty minutes. I thought I could take Shadow on a walk by myself so I did. Unfortunately he was obsessed with the smell of meat and followed a Deli truck at top speed. Of course my four year old self couldn't hold on and he slipped out of my grip.

"I returned, splattered with dirt and tears to my home. My brothers were sleeping at the time, but my mom was awake and standing near the door. She told me that she woke up to take care of Eggy when she noticed I wasn't playing in my room. I told her what happened and we made lost dog posters. She made me be the one to tell my dad and brothers what happened. Dad was more upset that I didn't ask mom and that I had crossed the street without permission. My brothers were furious. Eggy didn't know what was happening because he was a few months old, but the other two did. For the longest time they refused to talk to me and they were even angrier when word of the dog showed up."

"Uh-oh." Private said.

"Yes, someone had seen our posters and a month later a dog turned up in their neighborhood. It had been hit by a speeding car. Mom kept telling us that at least it happened fast and he wasn't in extreme pain. The twins screamed, cried and howled at me. It was only when they started throwing things that mom and dad finally had to put a stop to this. They told the boys that it was an accident and that they were lucky that I hadn't been hit by a car when I was crossing the street. Samuel bitterly accepted this, but Bradley was stubborn and refused to talk to me for ages. Samuel was avoiding me a little too until he heard me talking to Eggy. He said that if I had to talk to a baby then it must really be bad for me. Not in that exact context because he was two, but something like that. Bradley eventually forgave me and realized that he'd rather have his sister and no dog than have both his sister and the dog dead."

Barry looked up at her. Ramona offered a smile. "I'm sorry I didn't let you explain yourself." She said.

"I'm sorry too." Allie said.

"Yeah." Kenny said. "I should have closed the computer the moment you got on it."

"I'm sorry, if I'd been faster-"

"Stop." Barry said hoarsely. Private closed his mouth. "You're apologizing for nothing. I am to blame, not you. Interesting story, but it has nothing to do with this situation."

"Yes it does, my brothers were furious, but over time they forgave me. I kept apologizing. They didn't even talk to me at Christmas that year. Well, Samuel said Merry Christmas, but Bradley pretended I wasn't there." Ramona said.

"Why are you forgiving me?" Barry asked.

"Well, not quite." Private said. "You still have a way to go before we can fully trust you again. But I don't want to see you hurt as well."

"We're your friends and we shouldn't abandon you." Allie said. "You know what you did is wrong and now you have to make amends. First off, you have to gain Rico's forgiveness. Second, don't shirk your work. I saw your test this morning, you are better than that. You got none of them right."

"I know." Barry said.

"Why did you do that? After all the time we spent in the group and in class, you could have easily passed."

Barry didn't answer.

"You have to gain forgiveness and start doing well again to be a member of PARK."

Barry looked up confusedly.

"Private, Allie, Ramona, and Kenny." Ramona explained.

"I take it Andre has accepted Skipper calling him Private?" Barry said.

"Yes." Private answered. "We can add you in the group once you've gotten respect and trust back."

"Park B?" Barry asked.

"We can be called that." Allie said.

"What can I do to gain trust again?"

"You can help Hunter with her 'Save the Antarctic Animals' campaign. She's actually part of a larger group in the city." Ramona said. "I can show you where it is."

"Alright, I'll help. I can draw stuff."

"Rico does that."

"He does?"

"Yup, Hunter's asked him plenty of times to create posters for her."

"Wow…I can't believe I never knew…"

"Rico's had a pretty tough childhood; you shouldn't judge him unless you've gotten to know him." Private said. "Though I'm not one to say that I know everything about him, but I do know that he had to work hard to raise money to come here."

"Can I ask him something? I want to know why the rumor is that he was involved in an explosion at the elementary school near his home. I think it has something to do with his mom."

"I don't know where you heard that rumor, but I'm sure it's not true." Ramona said. "After all, what basis can be put on-? Kenny, what are you doing?"

Kenny was clutching his stomach. "I think I ate something bad."

"Can you make it t-"

The question never finished as they jumped out of the way once Kenny retched.

"Kenny!" Barry said. "Dude, what happened?"

The class grumbled and got as far as possible from them. The teacher called a janitor and sent Kenny to the nurse's office. Barry and Private helped him there.

"What did you eat?" Private asked.

"I don't remember…" Kenny said weakly.

"Did you eat?" Barry wondered.

"The thing is…"

"Answer the question."

"A little. I had a tuna sandwich."

"ARE YOU INSANE?!" Barry shouted, causing Kenny and Private to jump. "You know Monday tuna is TERRIBLE. I mean everyone knows that, it's called tuna surprise Monday, remember? Tuesday tuna is better, but Monday is 'tuna' surprise. They call it tuna, but I'm not even sure that's what it is, I swear it growled at me the first time I got it. That's the only thing wrong with this cafeteria…you should have just gotten a salad or a hamburger, you know, something that doesn't try to kill your digestive system."

Kenny didn't respond. They entered the nurse's office to find Kowalski there. He was laying on a bed, staring at the ceiling.

"You ate the tuna too, huh?" The nurse said. "Third case I've gotten today. The other two went home. It's Wheeler, right?"

"Taro." Barry corrected, "I'm Wheeler."

"Really?" Private said.

Barry nodded. They placed Kenny on a bed.

"What're you doing here?" Kenny asked, spotting his brother.

"I might have…er…fainted a little." Kowalski muttered. "What about you?"

"Mr. Iron Stomach forgot about 'tuna' surprise Monday." Barry snorted. "Honestly, they should rename it, 'eat it if you can' Monday."

Private smiled.

"And you? Why are you here?" Kowalski asked.

Barry looked down at his feet. "Helping…not that I'm good at it."

"Can anyone actually eat the tuna?" Private asked.

"Rico." Kowalski replied. "Rico's the only one who has ever kept it down with ease."

"Now that's an iron stomach."

"Yeah, I tried once…the results…let's just say it wasn't pretty. Skipper tried once, but he threw up the next morning. He is the only one who has been able to just get up and continue his day as if nothing happened after he threw up."

"What is in that stuff?"

"We don't know." Barry whispered. "But no one can tell them to stop making it because they need to use up the tuna from the previous week."

"Gross." Private said.

"I personally think they don't refrigerate over the weekend." Kowalski said.

"Again, gross."

"Well, since it's the end of the day I can let you go home." The nurse said when the bell had rung. "Do you have someone to help you?" She asked.

"Skipper's coming."

"And we'll help Kenny." Private said.

A few minutes later, Skipper entered with Rico. Rico grinned at Kowalski. Kowalski gave him a glare that said quite clearly 'make fun of me and I'll make that tuna surprise come out'.

"Private, not sick too are you?" Skipper asked.

"No, Kenny ate the tuna surprise."

"Seriously, anyone, someone, please petition to get rid of this stuff." Kenny said.

Rico laughed.

"Sorry kid, but you should know better than to take your chances with Monday cafeteria food." Skipper said.

"Yeah, sure." Kenny mumbled.

"Alright, are we ready to go?" Skipper asked.

"Yup." Kowalski said, pushing himself out of bed.

"No…" Kenny groaned.

"Come on, Barry and I will help." Private said. "Right, Barry?"

No response came. He looked around, but Barry wasn't there. "Where'd he go?"

"Is Kenny alright?" Ramona asked. Rico had opened the door to reveal Ramona and Allie.

"He'll be fine, where's Barry?" Private asked.

"He came to get us, he's right there." She pointed to her left. Barry slid into view and then quickly slid out.

"I've got to go pick up my brothers, see ya!" Ramona said, walking off with Allie behind her.

"Feel better, Kenny!" Allie called back.

"Bye, future wife!" Barry said.

Ramona walked quicker.

"That's hilarious." Kenny said. He was still weak on his feet. He tried to get up, holding onto Private, but he stumbled and fell back onto the bed.

Rico offered to carry Kenny on his back.

"You're only four years older than me, I'm pretty heavy."

On the contrary, Kenny was light when Rico heaved him onto his back. It was like carrying a heavy backpack, but Kenny wasn't that heavy. Kowalski opted to walk without help, but Skipper and Private kept an eye on him.

The boys left the nurse's office and headed down the block. Barry had gone ahead, but now they could see him standing at the end of the block, arguing with someone.

They weren't sure whether to help or to keep going. Rico was attracting odd looks because of Kenny. They thought that he had hurt the child. Of course, Julien would be the only one to make something of it.

"Hey pal, why are you kidnapping the kid?" Julien said in a carrying voice.

"Hey, I'm the kid's brother." Kowalski snapped. "And you are an annoying boy who can't seem to shut up."

"I wasn't talking to you, smarty booty."

"Fish coming back up." Kenny groaned.

Rico barely registered what he'd said before Kenny threw up all over him.

"Kenny!" Kowalski said. He and Skipper took Kenny off of Rico and sat him on a bench.

Rico took off his shirt and put it in a plastic bag he carried around. It was cold, but Rico didn't seem to mind.

"Why do you carry the bag?" Julien asked suspiciously.

"You're more concerned about the fact that Rico has a bag than a kid just throwing up?" Skipper said, shaking his head. "Personally, I'd be more concerned that Kenny won't make it back to the apartments."

"But Rico the psycho has a bag and he could snuffocate your brother."

"First of all, snuffocate isn't a word. Second, Rico is not psy-"

"Skipper." Rico said, holding up his hand. He looked at Julien. Julien suddenly looked nervous. Rico drew a deep breath. "Maybe I…I am…psycho…but…you…you vain…you selfish…you are not a friend…why? Why you want to hurt? You psycho…not me…"

"So you ADMIT you're psycho!" Julien said, still pale with fear. "Ha! I knew it!"

Rico growled.

"Leave before I show you what my brother taught me." Skipper said. "And he taught me to fight back."

"I am not going to run away." He huffed. But he did as soon as Rico took a step towards him.

Private had barely been paying attention. He had been watching Barry argue with an older girl.

The boys decided to intervene because Barry was turning red with anger. Rico put on his jacket before lifting Kenny up again. Kenny said he'd try to give more warning next time. Rico was to take Kenny straight back to his room and take care of him until Kowalski got there.

"…don't want your help!" Barry was saying. "I've been fine on my own."

"Barry-"

"YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT! You can't just disappear and then come back FOUR YEARS LATER AND TELL ME YOU'RE SORRY! I THOUGHT YOU DIED OR SOMETHING! YOU NEVER CAME BACK!"

"Please let me explain!"

"NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"What's going on here?" Skipper asked.

"Nothing, I was going back to my room." Barry said, his face still red with fury.

"Barry, please let me talk to you." The woman said.

Kowalski put a hand on Barry's shoulder. "Who are you and what do you want with him?"

"I wish to talk to him." She responded.

"I wish to leave." Barry growled.

"I wish for you to answer the question." Skipper said. "Who the deuce are you supposed to be? Are you his mother?"

"Not exactly."

"I told you, I don't want you." Barry snapped. "I don't want to hear why you left! I don't want to know why you thought an eight year old would be fine by himself. I live in a FOSTER home with every kid at least three stinkin' years younger than me! I room with a baby and a kid who can't go to the bathroom without waking me up. Now I have a life and I DON'T WANT YOU TO RUIN IT!"

"Barry, is this your sister?" Private asked softly.

Barry clenched his fists and looked determinedly at the ground. "Unfortunately." He spat.

"Barry!"

"You never answered Kowalski's question." Skipper said. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I am Alexis and I wish to get my brother back." She said.

"Well that ain't happening." Barry said.

"Isn't."

"DON'T CORRECT ME AS IF YOU'D BEEN DOING IT ALL THIS TIME!" Barry screamed. "YOU LEFT ME!"

"And would you like to know why?"

"No. I don't want to know." Barry was shaking now, "I don't want to know why I was so bad you just left me THREE WEEKS AFTER THE FUNERAL! THREE WEEKS! MOM TRUSTED YOU AND YOU KILLED HER TRUST! You killed my trust."

He shot across the street before anyone could respond and ran into the building.

Kowalski was holding onto Skipper's shoulder, trying not to faint again. Alexis sighed, she told them she just wanted to talk to Barry and then she'd leave if he wanted her to.

At that moment, Skipper was interrupted by a tearful Rocky. She told him that their brother, Toby, had been injured in a car accident.

At this point, Kowalski was clutching Skipper's shoulder tightly and had his eyes shut.

Meanwhile, Private had followed Barry without a word.

Unfortunately for Private, Alice was standing next to a familiar person. Private skidded to a stop while Barry disappeared into the elevator.

"Henry? What are you doing here?"

"Your mom wants you back home and you're to stay with me for the rest of the first semester."


	12. Plans and threats

"If this is because of the whole 'Alvin' thing, we were just kidding." Private said anxiously. "Did I do something wrong?"

"I don't know, I'll let him explain. Right now, I have to deal with Julien." Alice said. She turned away and stomped to the elevators

"H-Henry, I swear I'm doing well in school. I got a good grade on the last history test and-"

"Andre, this isn't about grades." Henry sighed. "Let's sit." He gestured to the chairs.

Private sat down, he decided not to tell Henry about the name change.

"When did you get a haircut?"

"My roommate did it." Private said. "Is that what this is about?"

Henry sighed again. "No, the haircut is fine. Your mom saw the pictures on Facebook that your friend took."

"The food?" Private asked.

"Those, but she's more upset about recent events."

"I don't get it."

"She researched your roommates and unfortunately she knows what's been happening at school."

Private gasped. "Rico's not a nutter, I swear! He's really nice and-"

"That's not your mom's opinion. She thinks you'll get hurt. And she got a message that you were trying to get in the middle of that crowd-"

"They were pummeling Rico! If I hadn't stepped in, Skipper might have been too late and-"

"She also researched your other roommates and she's not happy with Skipper. She thinks he's going to force you to join the military or do something you don't want."

"B-but he's not-"

"It's your mom's decision."

"Well Mum's wrong!"

Henry looked at him sadly. "I'm sorry, Andre."

Private stared determinedly at the door. People were coming in, chatting about their day at school. Some were leaving to go shopping or for walks. He heard laughter from the dining hall. The thought that he might not be one of them…

It was too painful to think about.

He perked up as he saw Skipper and Kowalski enter with Rocky. But Skipper and Rocky seemed sad and Kowalski was very pale. They sat Kowalski down and chatted.

Skipper looked over to Private who gave the leader a sad smile. Skipper didn't buy it.

Skipper came over just as Rico stepped off the elevator with a fresh shirt and his laundry. Rico headed for a door around the corner that lead to the laundry room which Alice forgot to mention.

They waited for Rico to come out with his empty laundry basket.

Rico came over to see what was going on. He notified them that Kenny was still throwing up and suggested that he shouldn't go to school tomorrow.

Skipper told them that Kowalski had fainted again and he should rest. He also said that his brother had been involved in a car accident and he and Rocky were going back home on Friday afternoon and returning Sunday night.

Private drew a deep breath. "My mum's not letting me come back next term." He said.

"What?!" Rico yelped.

"Seriously?" Skipper said. "What happened?"

"She caught wind of the events happening recently and…she doesn't exactly think highly of you three." Private said. "AND she wants me to stay with Henry's family until the winter holidays…so that's it…I'm leaving."

"You can't go! We're a team, remember?"

"Skipper, I don't have a choice. Unless your military dad can convince-"

"I can't ask him to do that."

"Aww."

"But I can ask Julien's dad…or more specifically, he can make a phone call."

"Like Julien would agree."

"He would, but a few people won't like it." A mischievous grin appeared on Skipper's face.

Private was interested now.

"NO!" The girl yelled when Skipper suggested it the next day at lunch time. "It's nothing against the kid; he's a delight to frighten half to death but no."

"Come on, Nat, it's all he wants. One date with you and he'll tell his dad to convince Private's mom to let him stay." Skipper said.

"Read my lips and read closely." She said, grabbing his shirt. "I. Will. Not. Do. This."

"What do I have to do to convince you?"

"Hmm…I want Izzy's secret recipe for his pasta sauce. He refuses to give it to me."

"Fine, I'll ask." Skipper sighed.

"Now why would she want that?" Izzy asked, sketching in his notebook. Skipper had found him in the park after school.

"So she can go on a date with Julien and Private's mother will be convinced that he can stay."

"Okay."

"Okay? Really, that's awesome-"

"But-"

"Aw, come on! There's a but?"

"Everyone has a but."

Rico snickered.

"Cut it out." Skipper said, giving Rico a light swat on the head. "Alright Izzy, what do you want?"

"Mort has a cool new camera, I want to borrow it." Izzy said.

"I'll ask Mort."

Skipper knocked on the door and Maurice answered.

"Is Mort here?"

"Yeah, Mort!"

Mort bounced into the room. "Yeeeeees?"

"Can Izzy borrow that camera?"

"Okay, can I have something too?"

"Oi vey." Skipper said. "Alright, what do you want?"

"I want Barry to be giving back my Pokémon yellow game." Mort said.

"Alright." Skipper said brightly. Barry already owed them for what he had done before.

"Hey, Skipper." Barry said, "Do you need something?"

"Yes, and remember you already owe us so…In a crazy chain of events I need you to do something so the chain can react."

"What?"

"I need you to give something to Mort so Mort can give the camera to Izzy so Izzy can give the secret recipe to Nat and Nat can go on a date with Julien and Julien will tell his dad to talk to Private's mom to let him stay."

"Oh, okay. What do you need me to give Mort, singing lessons?"

"I wish." Skipper shook his head. "He wants something called Pokémon yellow game that you borrowed."

The color drained from Barry's face. "You see…the thing is…"

"What?" Skipper groaned.

Barry hesitated. "I might have dropped it and it might have been accidentally knocked…er…into…the Hudson River."

"WHAT?! How did you manage that?"

"During the summer, the foster people took us on a trip and I brought my game boy and two games…I happened to lose Mort's…"

Skipper groaned loudly.

"I'm sorry." Barry squeaked. "But if he wants anything else like singing lessons or a sleepover or something, I'd do it."

Skipper and Barry approached Mort to explain what happened to his game and Mort cried. He refused to give anything to anyone and shut the door.

Skipper explained the predicament to Izzy who said he couldn't give Nat the recipe. Of course, without the recipe there was no chance Nat would go out with Julien.

And then Julien refused to listen to them, claiming they stole his boom box's 'boominess.'

Skipper told this to the boys that evening. Private refused to point blank to accompany Henry to his house. Henry finally succumbed to the boys arguments and let Private stay.

Private's mom was less than happy. The next afternoon and the following afternoon, they talked until she had to go to bed and it always ended with Private refusing to go.

Friday came too quickly and Skipper had to leave. He and Rocky departed for Long Island at 4:00 pm.

Kowalski and Rico tried cheering Private up, but to no avail.

"Halloween's coming in two weeks and four days." Kowalski said. "And do you know what it'll be in four days?"

"Er, Wednesday?"

"It'll be a month since you've been here!"

Private sighed. "If only I could stay longer than two months…"

"We'll convince your mom, trust us!"

"I trust you and I respect you but there's no way Mum's going to-"

Private's phone rang. "It's not from anyone I know."

Kowalski took it. "Hello?" He narrowed his eyes as he listened to the voice on the other end. He hung up and scowled. "I don't recognize the voice, but it was a threat." He picked up his own phone. "And I just got a threatening message. Basically it says 'quit while you're ahead or else' It could be from that Blowhole guy, but he couldn't know yet, could he?"

"Hey, guys!" Rico shouted. "C'mere."

They rushed into Rico's room where they found him checking his email. There was the same threatening message.

"Who is this person?" Kowalski breathed.

Private looked at Kowalski. "Do you think Skip-?"

_RING! RING!_

Kowalski picked up his phone. "Hey…really? Us too…Rico got an email, Private got a phone call and I got a text message…yeah…okay…uh-huh…we'll be careful…bye…" he turned to the others. "Skipper found a note in his mailbox; it said the same thing except it added 'what happened to your brother will be the least of your problems'."

"That means he knows where we live." Private said fearfully.

Rico looked at Kowalski who was deep in thought.

"Something doesn't add up." Kowalski said, "How would your mother know about us? She should have been asleep when that whole Facebook thing started. We deleted everything right away, but it should have been past midnight."

"No, it happened in the morning. She could have seen the message-"

"Yes, but how would she know Rico's your roommate? How could she know who Skipper is? It has to be someone who has direct access to school files. There's no other way they'd know where Skipper lived or how to contact your mother or any of us."

"So someone is undercover at the school?" Private wondered.

"Yes, or someone at the school is being pressed with these questions and forced to answer them."

"But who can get into our files except for teachers and staff? They wouldn't tell."

"I know a student assistant who works there, he wouldn't tell unless he was threatened. We should talk to him tomorrow."

"He lives here? Could it be possible that Barry or Kenny-"

"No. My brother wouldn't sell us out and I don't think Barry's working for anyone."

"I'm sorry I suggested-"

"It's okay, when raising suspicions we have to think about everyone we've told things to. This means you have to question your friends and I have to question mine until we get some answers. We also have to ask Roy."

"Who?"

"Roy, he's the student assistant in the front office. He's in the same grade as Maurice, they're both eleventh graders."

"Okay, when do we begin?"

"Tomorrow."

"And my mum's decision?"

"We'll work on that. I promise, we'll get to the bottom of this and we'll make her see that you're fine here. Skipper and I have been concerned about this for a few days now, it was bound to get out that you and Rico were roommates and her concerns would skyrocket. What I want to know is how she got her information, she's all the way across the ocean with a five hour time difference and Henry's not allowed to know anything unless it's an emergency. Didn't you say he had kids? Maybe one of them could have-"

"Done nothing. They're not even in Pre-school yet."

"He and his wife still could have heard rumors from other parents with teenagers who go to the same school. And of course every parent has received an automated voice message about the 'bullying is wrong' message."

"How did you know that?"

"Because Rico's dad got it twice and Marlene told me her parents got it and…I…I uh…overheard D-Doris…" He inhaled; a slightly pink tinge appeared on his face. "And a few of our classmates told me and Skipper."

"How come he got it twice?"

"It's an automated message system, it goes through the numbers and calls. It also doesn't know who shares the same person. For example, Smith. There could be Joe Smith and John Smith, but can be completely unrelated. If the message took them to be brothers, Joe's family would know what's going on and unless John said anything, his parents wouldn't know."

"So Ramona's parents are going to get it four times?"

"That will most likely happen."

"What about Barry?"

"I assume the foster home would get it unless his elementary school papers transferred an old number to reach his sister. They probably did which is how she knew where to find him."

"I think we should find out more about her."

"That's what Skipper was thinking too."

"We've got lots of planning to do."

"Yup, are you ready Rico?"

They turned to find Rico fast asleep on his bed. Kowalski chuckled and left the room. Private turned off the light and closed the door behind him.

"Now what?" Private asked.

"We need to come up with a plan or four in this case. One, we need to figure out who's threatening us; two, we need to know how information is getting to your mother; and three, we need to convince her to let you stay. The fourth one is finding out what's going on with Barry and his sister, but I think that should be low on our priority list unless she does something crazy that warrants our attention."

"Alright…may I ask why you fainted on Monday?"

"No."

Private suddenly had an awkward feeling as if he touched upon something sensitive.

"Sorry," Kowalski said, "But I'd rather not tell you. Let's just say I wasn't feeling too well."

Private didn't press the subject further.

Over the weekend the three of them, with Skipper on the phone, began their plans. Private was to begin by asking his friends if they ever spoke to anyone about him. Ramona said she'd only told her parents that she made a new friend, but nothing about what happened in school. She also called Allie and her answer was pretty much the same. Allie's parents just didn't want her to have a boyfriend which they mentioned…five times.

Barry said he hadn't told anyone anything and Kenny never spilled any numbers either.

Rico and Private then questioned Julien, not that that was an easy task. Julien refused to be in the same room as Rico.

Kowalski had tracked down Roy and talked to him. Roy was a little nervous at first, but he consented to talk. Roy hadn't received threats of any kind nor had he given phone numbers out.

When Skipper returned on Sunday night, the boys hadn't had any success. They ruled out their suspects quickly. He said that he'd shown the letter to his father, but they were also unable to figure out where the threats came from.

"Who haven't we suspected yet?"

"I don't know." Kowalski said, trying to come up with something.

Skipper sighed heavily, and then he bolted up. "Hang on." He said. "Private, you've been in communication with your friends in England, right?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Private asked.

"How many people did you tell about your roommates?"

"Three. My dad, but he wouldn't tell Mum. And my friend Ginger, and my cousin Daniel."

"Could it be possible that Daniel or Ginger said anything?"

"I don't know, I'll ask tomorrow."

"Email them tonight so they can get it first thing tomorrow morning."

Private nodded. He sent out two emails and then got ready for bed.

Monday morning came and the boys woke up at 5:00 in the morning. Private looked at his phone and jumped out of bed to turn on his computer.

He got dressed and returned to his room to find Rico and Skipper waiting for him. Skipper pointed to the screen which was alerting the user to an incoming video message.

"It's from Ginger." He opened a video chat. "What's up?" he said once the video revealed a girl with curly brown hair and green eyes. She looked like she was in a park.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" She remarked, noting Private's messy hair and Rico holding a toothbrush.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" Private asked.

"It's the morning break now. I have to leave soon so let's make it quick. Andre, your email said you were worried about something, right?"

"Yeah, I was wondering if you or Daniel had given out any personal information."

"Whatever you said to everyone back home is what I said. I didn't say anything you didn't want me to. And I just said you had cool roommates." She looked at the others. "I suppose I should have mentioned cute too."

"Gingy…"

"You told me not to tell your mum and I didn't, mate, everything's good."

There was something in her tone that made Skipper narrow his eyes. "You're hiding something." He said.

Ginger looked at him in shock. "What makes you think-?"

"You mentioned nothing about Daniel." Skipper said.

She bit her lip.

"Ginger, what's going on?" Private asked.

"I swear I tried to stop the git!" She blurted before she could stop herself.

"What did he do?"

"Daniel's going on about how you betrayed the entire country and went to America and- he's also saying that he was the one who helped you when we played Pokémon as kids and…he stole your game too. He's also telling your mum about your roommates. Your emails are being read by him and he shows her. He's also threatening to beat you if you ever come back."

"W-what?! Why would he do that?" Private asked. "We're cousins, why would he…"

"Why would Daniel attempt to discredit Private?" Kowalski wondered.

"Who?" Ginger asked.

"Oh, I never told you, my new name is Private."

"Ginger!" A voice came from the background followed by the chime of a bell.

"I have to go." She said. "Sorry I'm not of much help!"

"How could he do this?" Private asked after he shut off his computer. "I trusted him, wait until I get my hands on him." He growled.

"Wow, you're actually making threats." Skipper said. "Congratulations, you're officially part of the team."

Private blushed. "I thought I already was…" he mumbled.

**A/N: I hope this chapter satisfies you until I'm done with my Monday final and I might post another chapter of one of my stories. Next week I'm preparing to move out of the dorms so I'm going to be swamped with making sure I have all my things…I also have to figure out how to use up my extra dining money by the end of next week or it just gets thrown out like garbage. Thanks for reading and tune in to see what happens. -T.K**


	13. Halloween with the Carsons

"I've got an idea!" Kowalski said.

The boys were sitting in the underground base after school. It was the week before Halloween and Kowalski had been working hard. He figured that if words won't help persuade Private's mom, then inventions would do it.

Skipper and Private entered the room to see Kowalski holding a strange satellite-like device with a tennis ball on top of it.

"Mind control." Kowalski said with a huge grin. "Put this on your head and she'll do whatever you ask. It can work on others too."

"Seriously, Kowalski? Mind control?" Skipper sighed.

"Watch."

Kowalski strapped the satellite dish to his head and turned it on. He squinted at Rico. The device whirred and beeped. He heard a whooshing noise and grinned.

"Now he'll do whatever I ask- what?" He noticed the expressions on their faces. "Is it hot in here to you?"

"Your mind is on fire." Skipper said.

"It sure is…wait did you mean that as a compliment or insu-OW!"

Private had just hit him on the head with a broom.

"WHAT THE HECK?!"

"You're on fire!" Private said.

Kowalski yelled and put his hands on his head only to whip them back down.

Skipper found a fire extinguisher and sprayed Kowalski.

"You look like an old man."

Kowalski glared at Skipper.

"Your hands are burned." Private said.

"It's alright." Kowalski said, removing the charred helmet from his head. "Maybe I can make a persuasive serum for her to drink." He looked over at his test tubes. "Or we can disguise ourselves and move to Canada."

"Canada?" Skipper said.

"For the bacon."

"Even if it's just ham?"

"It's good ham."

"All ham is good ham."

"Touché."

Private sighed. "Well, we better go." He said.

The other three looked at him as he started to walk out.

"Cheer up, it's almost Halloween and you know what that means." Skipper said.

"CANDY!" Kowalski shouted.

"MEOW-MEOWS!" Rico added.

"That's part of the candy."

Rico stuck his tongue out at Kowalski.

"Oh real mature." Kowalski scoffed.

"I told you last minute shopping was not cool." Barry sighed. He was watching Kenny and Private pick out Halloween outfits while Ramona and Allie were looking over decorations for Allie's house.

The plan so far was that on Halloween, Allie's parents would pick up the other four and from there, the friends would go trick or treating.

The only odd part was that Kenny had no idea what to do. Barry laughed until Ramona smacked him. Apparently, Kenny and Kowalski hadn't been trick or treating before or at least that they had remembered.

Private had even been out trick or treating twice with both of those times his mother had been gone on a trip and Uncle Nigel wanted little Andre to have as much fun as possible. That being said, Private hadn't been out since the age of six. When he was four, he'd dressed up as a pumpkin and when he was six, he was a magician.

Now he was eyeing several different costumes of Barry's selection.

Allie decided to go as Merida from Brave and Ramona was going as Katniss from the Hunger Games, but both zombies because Barry 'bit' them.

Kenny finally decided to dress up as an astronaut and refused to be a zombie. Barry said he'd bite later.

Private then chose to dress up as Colin Creevey from Harry Potter, using his real camera to take pictures.

The older kids were going to a Halloween party at the school.

Kowalski dressed up as a mad scientist and Rico dressed up as the Joker. Julien screamed his head off when Rico grinned at him. Skipper put on an old uniform that had belonged to his father. He said it made him more proud to have it on than to celebrate a holiday.

Alice warned everyone who was leaving that they had to be back in the apartments by midnight or she'd make their lives a nightmare. They also had to sign in and out when leaving and entering.

Barry was having the most difficult time staying in character because he was too busy laughing at his prank.

Earlier that morning, Barry had put a hand over Izzy's mouth and woke him up, warning him to be silent. Then he'd crept over to Leonard's bed, squirted some ketchup on his arm and began gnawing on it. Leonard grumbled before opening his eyes and letting out the most ear piercing scream ever.

Barry had nearly wet himself laughing and Leonard was still fuming.

"Can't we take a subway?" Barry asked after five minutes of waiting.

"Allie's dad will be here soon." Private said.

Ramona had already gone with Allie after school to fix her costume more.

"Besides, we can't go on the subway by ourselves." Kenny said.

"Why not?" Barry whined.

"Do you know how many germs are on a subway?" Melman's voice came from behind.

"Yes, I also know how many germs there are in human saliva."

Melman's eyes widened and he ran back inside.

Private would have said something, but he was distracted by Hunter's costume. She had a fish tail, a tentacle for an arm, a seal mask and a bunch of trash on her.

"I am what we are doing to the environment. I am the eventual mutation and death that will occur if we don't do something now." She said once she had spotted Barry snickering.

"Can we go now?" Skipper asked, cutting across Hunter.

"Not yet, I want to be sure that my brother and the others are safe." Kowalski said.

"Fine- Marlene what are you wearing?"

Marlene grinned. "A few of my friends and I are going as parade dancers."

"With really short skirts?"

"Why does that matter? Don't you watch the Macy's parade? They have dancers who wear this kind of stuff."

"It bothers me."

Marlene laughed. "Come on, be a bit more open minded. It's not like I dress like this every day. What are you worried about?"

"Well if you must know, it is still really cold outside."

"It warmed up a bit, and we'll be in a crowded gym."

"What if something happens?"

"Like what?"

"Like…well…what…Hypothermia?"

"Hypo-? I'm fine, I've talked to my parents and they think it's a great costume. I have a jacket in my purse. What about the others, won't you worry about them?"

"They've got layers, you don't."

"I'll dance, then."

"OH LOOK, ALLIE'S DAD IS HERE." Barry said loudly, blocking out the conversation.

"Is it?" Private asked.

"Yup." Barry said. "Hey, Greg."

Allie's father looked at Barry with a half stern expression. "Barry, I've told you plenty of times, I'm still Mr. Carson to you." He said.

"Yes sir." Barry said.

The boys climbed in the car and waved to Skipper and the others.

"They'll be alright with me." Mr. Carson said to Kowalski.

Kowalski nodded and smiled.

"What's he worried about?" Private said. He'd noticed Kowalski talking something through with Kenny all day.

"I don't know." Barry said, "He did that last year too."

"And before?"

"He didn't come with us the year before and beyond that, I didn't know him."

They both looked at Kenny who opted to keep his eyes glued to the window.

Mr. Carson must have noticed because he began talking to divert their attention. "So, I see I have a new passenger."

Private grinned.

"What's your name, young man?"

"Andre, sir, but my nickname is Private."

"Private…huh, interesting. You grow up in a military background?"

"No, my roommate wouldn't stop calling me that and it just grew on me."

"Ah, nothing like roommate pressure to kick in a new name."

The boys laughed.

"Hey, can you tell us embarrassing stories about Allie?" Barry asked.

"Let's see…how about no."

"But-"

"Barry, it wouldn't be nice to talk about her like that."

"That means she did something totally embarrassing, come on, spill it."

Private nudged Barry to remind him that Mr. Carson was still an adult and they should show respect.

Barry had fallen asleep before Private had realized that they were heading towards the Bronx.

"Wow, Allie lives far. Do you pick her up every day and drive her to school?"

"No, she rides the bus with our neighbor's daughter." Mr. Carson responded.

"Must be a nice neighborhood."

"More like nice building."

"Huh?"

Mr. Carson pointed to a building he was slowing down near.

"She lives in an apartment?"

"And now the mystery is over." Kenny said. "She doesn't have to live there if she'd just go back to an apartment at home anyway."

"I thought she just lived closer."

"We're thinking about moving into her Grandmother's house a bit closer to the school. Of course we don't want to do anything to disrupt the school year so we're waiting until summer to figure everything out. I still have to pay rent."

The boys poked Barry awake and followed Mr. Carson into the building.

As soon as he opened the door to the room, the smell of chocolate reached their noses.

"Oh, that's good." Barry said, kicking off his shoes and rushing in.

"Do you mind leaving your shoes here?" Mr. Carson asked the other two. "We just got a new carpet and the floors are clean."

Private smiled, "No problem, we do this at my house too. I live above a bakery and my mum's a nut about dirt."

"Allie's mom is better, she won't freak out if you drop a cookie on the carpet." Ramona called out. "She just hands you a mini vacuum."

Kenny and Private found Barry being handed said vacuum.

"Right, sorry An- I mean, Mrs. Carson." Barry said, cleaning up the crumbled piece of cookie.

"Hello Kenny, nice to see you again." Mrs. Carson said. "And who might you be?"

"My name is Andre, but I like being called Private. Except for tonight because I'm Colin Creevey."

"Oh wow, that's a lot to remember. Would you like a cookie?"

"Certainly, thank you."

"You're so polite; I wish I had a son like you."

"You have a son?"

"You had to bring him up?" Allie grumbled, fastening her curly red wig. Mr. Carson quickly slid out of view.

"What's going on?" A boy had come out of a room at the end of the hallway. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes Jake, we were just discussing something."

"Was it Frankie?"

"How'd you know that?" Ramona asked.

"I'm super smart…and Uncle Greg looks cheesed off."

"Jake is going with you kids." Mrs. Carson said, wanting a change in subject.

The kids picked up on that at once and grinned at the younger boy. Allie explained that her cousin Jake came along because his parents were always busy. Mrs. Carson was delivering some cookies to a neighbor and saving the rest. Once she had delivered the cookies, she got ready to go out with the kids.

When Mrs. Carson was busy helping Jake with his bloody ghost makeup, Allie pulled the other kids aside. She explained to them that Frankie was not to ever be mentioned.

"How old is he?" Private asked.

"I don't know, he's fifteen or sixteen years older than me. I have a stepbrother and stepsister, but Frankie left us a long time ago. Consider him disowned and a banned subject. My stepsister still thinks he can change. She lives with her dad and hardly ever visits."

"Does she go to Central High?" Kenny asked.

"Yes, but I'm not telling you who she is."

Ramona rolled her eyes. "Seriously, you both look like your mother. It's-"

"Alright, let's go." Jake nearly shouted.

The kids set off with Mrs. Carson following them. First, they ran through the building to collect as much candy as possible. Then they exited the apartment property to the streets.

"No, that house is scary." Jake complained when they had reached the end of the block.

"Don't be such a wimp, just blend in." Barry said. He winked, then rolled his eyes and groaned as he walked towards the door.

Ramona laughed and followed suit. "I volunteer…to eat your braaaaains…"

"I want freedom of brains…" Allie moaned.

"One small step for zombie, one giant leap towards candy!" Kenny said.

"What does Colin say? I've only read the books." Private whispered.

"I'm nine, I haven't read Harry Potter." Jake whispered back.

"Er…I'm in Gryffindor too…er…COLIN TO THE RESCUE!" He shot forward to catch up with Kenny and the zombie trio.

A couple of kids jumped as the zombie trio bumped into them.

"Cool costumes." A man said.

Allie snapped out of her role to stare at the costume. It looked like something out of a monster horror movie. He had an axe in the middle of his costume and looked half furry and half skeletal.

"What the-?"

"Scared, little girl?" He asked. "Take some candy if you dare." He pointed to a smoking bowl.

"I am not scared." Allie said.

They peered into the bowl which was full of what looked like moving strings.

"Worms?" Ramona guessed.

The kids looked at each other, silently asking who was brave enough to touch it. They saw that there was candy among the worms.

Kenny shook and stepped away, Allie followed him.

"I'm not scared. No way!" Barry said defiantly.

"Then put your hand in." The man said in a creepy voice.

"There's an eyeball in there." Ramona squeaked.

Barry drew a deep breath and looked at Private. Private nodded.

"On three?"

"Y-yeah."

"Not scared, are you?"

"No, you?"

"Never."

Private grinned. "One."

"Two."

"THREE!" They shouted, plunging their hands in.

Private closed his hand and withdrew it in a split second, splattering his clothes with the worms and something red.

"Hang on a minute…" he gasped, looking at his hand.

"Spaghetti." Barry said, pulling his hand out.

Private opened his hand and half the spaghetti flopped out. "I got an eye."

"I got two." Barry said. "And a candy bar."

They looked at the man who had an expression that suggested that he was impressed.

"You two are the only ones who were brave enough to do that." He said, holding a spaghetti free bowl of candy. "And for that, you get a special prize." He gave everyone candy and handed Barry and Private two jars that had the floating eyes. "By the way, the eyes are not edible. The spaghetti is edible…cold, but perfectly safe."

"Cool, thanks man!" Barry said, slurping a string of spaghetti into his mouth.

At the end of the night, they returned to Allie's apartment to compare their candy stash. Allie's mother took a picture of all their cold flushed faces.

Barry got the most amount of candy followed closely by Private; Allie and Ramona tied for third place and Kenny in fourth. Jake was last since he refused to go anywhere near at least three houses.

"That was amazing!" Private said. "Thanks so much for inviting me!"

"No problem, what are friends for?" Barry said.

"We are PARK B!" Ramona cheered.

"Yeah!" Kenny said.

"Hear hear!" Allie said.

"With so much candy!" Private added.

"Really? I'm back in the group?" Barry said.

"Yup. I need your help with something." Kenny said.

Barry looked questioningly at him.

"My brother is an awesome swimmer and I was hoping we could all convince him to join the swim team next year. They're having tryouts next semester." Kenny said. "I know he wants to beat Simon at something and swimming could be it!"

He looked hopefully at the rest of them. The others, except for Jake who had gone to bed, nodded in agreement.

"Wait." Private said. "Is he okay with taking his shirt off?"

Kenny hesitated. "I-I'll talk to him about that. They have swim shirts available."

"Yeah, for little kids." Barry said. "What's his deal anyway? Every time I see him in the water he has a shirt on."

"He won't change in our room while we're there. Is he scared?" Private wondered. "I know he's thin, but we won't judge him."

"No, he wears the shirt so he doesn't get sunburned." Kenny said.

"That might work for the pool, but at night? Getting ready for bed involves no sun whatsoever." Ramona said.

Kenny inhaled sharply. "He's just…um…he doesn't like his body much."

Before anyone could respond, Mr. Carson came into the room, telling the others that he'd drive them home now. Kenny refused to speak for the rest of the ride; his knuckles were white as he gripped his candy bag.

Private and Barry gave each other questioning looks, but they knew that Ramona had forbidden them from saying anything.

Private text messaged Skipper, letting him know that they arrived back safely with a load of candy.

Skipper responded by saying that Kowalski left the party early and that Ramona, Kenny and Barry could stay for a little while.

Private headed up to his room while the other three went to clean themselves up.

He was about to go to the bathroom when he noticed the light on. Thinking Kowalski was in there, he took off his robe and entered his room.

"AAH!"

"WHAA!"

Private whipped his hands in front of his face.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!" Kowalski yelled, holding a pillow in front of his chest.

"I-I thought you were in the bathroom, I-"

"GET OUT!"

Private dropped the robe and zipped away, closing the door behind him. He found a spot to hide and crawled in.

After a minute or two, he heard soft footsteps exiting the other room.

"Private?"

Private kept his mouth shut; under Rico's bed seemed safe enough until a nasty stench punched his nose. He pinched his nose and waited.

Finally, Kowalski seemed to have given up and retreated to the bathroom.

Private rolled out from under the bed, finally being able to gasp for air. He rubbed his watery eyes and looked around. Whatever it was had smelled like gas, burnt clothing, and blood.

He went down for another look and found something in the corner near an old duffel bag. He picked it up and discovered that it was a torn and burnt sock which smelled horrible. He held it away from himself and something plopped out.

He picked it up and stared at it. It was a shell. Just a plain gray shell which was now broken from the fall.

He glanced around until something caught his eye. The lone picture of four people on Rico's wall. A man and woman were laughing. The woman was holding a one year old and the man was in the middle of accepting a flower from the little girl.

"Oh no." Private whispered. "I'm in the thick of it now."

He let his friends know that he wasn't feeling up to looking at the candy and they could do that tomorrow night. Right now, he knew that he'd done something horrible. He dropped the sock and carefully carried the shell out.

"I'm going to take a walk." He called out.

A muffled reply sounded from the bathroom.

Private hurried as fast as he could to the base, managing to avoid any attention. Alice was asleep at her desk.

Once he'd entered the base, he began searching through the cupboards and drawers of supplies. Knowing that Elmer's glue was definitely not going to work, he set out to find some super glue.

He tapped his watch to reveal a screen on it.

"Skipper?"

Music sounded from the watch as it flickered to a screen with Skipper's face on it.

"Is everything okay?" Skipper asked.

"I just want to know where the super glue is."

"Super glue? It should be in the supply area of the base in one of the drawers. Are you sure everything is alright? "

"Yes, just a little mishap."

Skipper nodded. Private's watch flickered back to the current time.

Private rifled through the drawers until he found one full of different types of glue and tape.

He found the super glue and sat at Kowalski's lab. He put the shell under the microscope and began gluing as carefully as he could.

When he was finished he sighed and looked at the time.

"WHOA!" He yelped. "Nearly midnight?! Alice is going to have my head!"

He took the shell and hurried to the apartments.

"Alvin!" Alice barked.

Private pretended not to hear her and zipped into the elevator, clutching his side.

"You know, I could have kept it open." An amused female voice said.

"Hi, Marlene." Private gasped. "I-is Rico still at the party?"

"No, he and Skipper were behind me when Julien said something that made Skipper lash out. In any case, they're both being chewed out by Alice."

"Oh no…that means Rico saw me…or Skipper…Alice definitely did."

Marlene was about to ask when the doors opened and Private sped out to his room. He frantically opened the door and stumbled into Kowalski. Muttering a hasty apology, he ran back to Rico's room and found the sock. Holding his breath, he put the shell in and smiled.

He was about to put it under the bed when the door opened.

"Private, Alice wants a word with you." Skipper said.

"I swear I didn't mean to, Kowalski scared me and I had to hide and it was stinky and I couldn't figure out why and it just fell and I tried to fix it but-"

"STOP." Skipper said loudly. Private almost dropped the sock again.

Rico came in and immediately spotted the object in Private's hand.

"So that's the smell, I've been meaning to ask you about it." Skipper said. "I thought you did laundry yesterday."

Rico shrugged indifferently.

Private handed him the sock.

"I didn't mean to break it."

Rico looked startled. He upturned the sock and the shell fell out. He examined it closely.

"Okay." He said.

"But, why? I broke something and obviously it's special or you wouldn't have reacted that way."

Rico's eyes flew towards the wall and Private followed his gaze.

"Your mother…"

"Yeah."

"There are so many things being said about you…I'd like to know the truth. I want to know the real Rico."

Rico looked at his other teammates.

"Rikki."

"I'll get her." Kowalski said. "Unless you'd rather wait until tomorrow."

"No." Rico said. "Now…better…please."

Kowalski nodded.

Once he had returned with Rikki, they all gathered in the living room to hear the story.

"One thing you have to know though." Rikki said. "The story isn't pretty. My dad told us as often as he could because we asked so much. I remember my feelings from that day. The day that our mom died."

Rico sighed. "Go."

Rikki nodded and drew a deep breath.

**A/N: So many back stories… so the drama…so go review and wait for the next chapter already.**

**Also, you don't need to worry whatsoever about Jake, he most likely will never be mentioned again.**

**Though there is something going on with Ramona, Allie, Barry, and Kenny that will play a part later.**

**Also, I have never read the Hunger Games, just seen the trailer where Katniss says "I volunteer…" so sorry if you don't like her being a zombie… or the fact that I just killed a great line ;)**

**Again, so many back stories…next chapter we begin with Rico's and the truth behind the accusations that he blew up his old school and killed his mother.**


	14. The Blue truth

The rumor around the town was that he'd blown up his school. The elementary school was destroyed and it was thought to have been him. But it couldn't have been. For one thing, he was only three, and he was asleep. But the truth was…his mother really had died in an explosion at the elementary school. No, it wasn't a bomb threat. Let me take you back about thirteen years ago.

"Daddy, Rico's asleep!" Rikki said, trying to locate her father. "He's snoring."

Rex picked up his four year old daughter. "Yes, now you shouldn't disturb him. Why don't you play with Celeste down the street?"

"She eated bad food and it make her tummy all yucky. Mama told me." Rikki responded, snuggling into her father's shirt. "I want to go to the park."

"Well we can't leave your brother, can we? He'd be all sad if he woke up and no one was there."

"We can come back when he is waked up."

"I don't think it works that way."

"Aww…can I play with the puppy? I won't hurt him."

"Of course, he's your puppy."

"Yay!" She wiggled out of her father's arms and walked to her parents' room. The puppy was in a fenced off circle, but she was allowed to crawl over it. The dog was to be trained to help her navigate. Their bigger dog was getting a bit old for the job, but lay down outside the fence for Rikki.

Rex smiled and continued cleaning. He and Rico had attempted to make a soda volcano and it sprayed everywhere, now he was scrubbing the counter down.

It was about three in the afternoon and Stella usually arrived home about half an hour after.

He thought he got the mess when he spotted the wet toaster. "Wow that was a pretty powerful volcano." He chuckled to himself.

The phone rang and he answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, honey." Stella's voice answered.

"Hi, Rico's taking a nap, Rikki's playing with the dog, and I'm cleaning a sticky mess. Are you on your way home?"

"Soon, but I'm picking up some cookies. The cafeteria made cookies and Talia offered to give me whatever's left. They're baking the last of the dough and I wanted to get cookies for the kids."

"That's sweet, though Rico's already had some candy today."

"Oh, I'm sure one cookie for dessert won't hurt."

"Okay, I've got to clean the toaster so I'll see you soon my dear."

"And no more indoor soda volcanoes, please."

"I promise, we'll do soda volcanoes outside."

"Preferably near my plants so they get wet."

"Haha, okay."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

He hung up and resumed cleaning the toaster.

He was finally done when he decided to watch television. There was a monster truck marathon that he was taping for Rico and on another channel were the Lunacorns. Rikki was slowly growing apart from it, but she still loved them. He flipped until he saw a flash of orange. He thought it was the History channel, but it was the news.

He shook his head sadly. He was about to switch channels when the camera zoomed in and he recognized part of a building. He had brought the kids a few times to visit their mother and he knew the place. He turned the volume up to hear.

"-as you can see behind me, the fire is still burning." The reporter was saying. "Back to Chuck Charles in the studio, do you have any new information on the event that occurred here?"

"Yes, Bonnie, I do." Chuck said. "New information has surfaced. Officials are saying the cause was an explosion in the cafeteria, but we're not quite sure how the events played out- Bonnie's coming in with eyewitness reports-"

"Hello, I'm here with Irwin Jackson." Bonnie said. "Mr. Jackson is the principal of this school. Can you tell us what happened? Was anyone hurt?"

"I'm not sure what happened quite yet. This happened when most of the students and staff had left. I am positive that whatever children were still here were in other parts of the school such as the library or grounds." Jackson said.

"Daddy." A small boy had rushed into the view and immediately blushed when he saw the camera.

"May I interview your son?" Bonnie asked.

"If he is willing to answer questions." Jackson said.

"Hello there, my name is Bonnie Chang." Bonnie said kindly. "Do you go to school here?"

"Yeah." The boy answered.

"What's your name, sweetie?"

"Terrence."

"Can you tell us what happened?"

"I was on the soccer field waiting for Dad. I felt the ground rumble and I saw a big bang fire come from the roof in the cafeteria."

"I see- hmm? I'm getting word from Chuck that they've gotten the fire nearly down and there are firefighters entering the building."

"Miss Chang, do you mind if I take my son home?" Mr. Jackson said.

"No problem, thank you both for answering this reporter's questions."

The two nodded and exited. The camera turned to Chuck.

"Other sources are saying the explosion originated from the kitchen of the cafeteria. Bonnie's telling me that they're removing people from the building."

Back to Bonnie. "Thank you, Chuck. A few people have been piled into ambulances. A total of five, I presume. Chuck is currently on his way to the hospital to find out more."

Rex was anxiously watching. He had gripped the edges of his chair so hard it started to tear. His heart pounded and a sweat began in his upper forehead.

Then it happened.

They released the names of the people.

Three of the five were hit by hot debris and were being treated for burns.

Two were pronounced dead at the scene: Talia Harrison and Stella Blue.

THUD

Rex had slid from his chair and shook on the ground. His hands were clutched into fists and hot tears spilled out of his eyes.

"No…no it can't…it can't be…please…no…just…"

He looked up to see two pictures of Talia and the other of his wife. Stella looked so beautiful. It was a staff photo taken right before Rico had puked on her shirt…he remembered…

"STELLA!" He screamed. It was a heart wrenching scream. He took out his phone and pounded 'recent calls'. "Please pick up…please pick up! Stella, pick up! It's not you, I know it's not!"

It went straight to an automated voice saying the number has been disconnected. He didn't want to listen, the phone dropped from his shaking hands and tears blurred his vision. Blood pounded in his ears.

"S-Stella…" he gasped.

He barely registered the tiny figures of his children in the hall. Of course he had woken Rico and probably frightened Rikki.

He looked right at them and broke down again. They both had the exact same shade of dark black hair and the facial features of their mother. He reached out a hand for them as if asking for help.

Rico pulled Rikki to their dad.

Rico glanced at the television and gasped. "Mama." He said. "Mama TV."

"Mom's on the TV?" Rikki said. "Why-?"

"-Reports now indicate that the explosion was caused by a broken propane tank and a hot oven open for a minute as well as a stove flame heating a boiling pot of water. Officials believe that it was an accident that killed these two-"

"KILLED?!" Rikki shrieked.

Rico looked his dad in the eyes. He knew that his dad would never cry like this unless-

"Mom?" He asked.

Rex pulled his two children into a hug.

Then they began crying as they realized she was never coming back.

Rico and Rikki took it as confirmation that their mother was killed. They had been told what it meant when their oldest dog had to be put down because it was in so much pain. They knew he was never coming back and now-

"MAMA!" Rico screamed, his throat hurting under the strain. His throat could never take too much and he had always had a quiet voice. "Mama…mama…" his voice was raspy.

"MOMMY!" Rikki sobbed, pressing her face into her father's shaking chest.

He didn't know how long he held them there. He didn't even know when he turned off the television. All he knew was that his children had become silent. He looked down to find that they'd cried themselves to sleep.

The dog, named Gracie, had walked in at some point and lay near her master's side.

Rex patted her and carried his children to bed. Rico had woken up for a moment to crawl into a better position before falling asleep again. Rikki's face was hard to take. She had the same expression and tear stained face and it broke his heart. He hated seeing his children so sad. He stroked her hair to find it wet. He supposed he must have cried into their hair as Rico's was a little wet too.

He blindly walked into the living room where Gracie was obediently waiting with the phone in her mouth.

"Smart dog…" He mumbled. He dialed the phone and held it to his ear.

"I heard." The voice at the other end said.

"I need you…I need your help…"

"I'm on my way."

"So smart…"

"Rex, listen to me. I will be there and I will help you."

"Okay."

"I'll be right there."

"Thanks Mom."

He hung up to find the dog's head resting in his lap.

"Could you watch Rico and Rikki for me?" He asked.

The dog licked his hand and proceeded to the kids' room.

Ten minutes later, he opened the door to his mother, Mary. She wordlessly guided him to the couch and sat next to him.

They sat in silence for a long time until they heard a small creak. A few seconds later, Rico came out with his hand on the dog. His eyes were red, puffy, and misty with tears and Gracie was guiding him out to the couch. She didn't bark at the newcomer or growl when Rico had accidently stepped on her. She was very patient with the kids.

Once Gracie had passed Rico to her master, she returned to the bedroom where Rikki was.

Rico climbed into his father's lap and grabbed his grandmother's hand. He noticed tears on her face as well. He remembered a time when she had cried before, but it was happy. It was when she got a photo album of him, Rikki, and their parents. But now the tears were bitter and unhappy. He had only seen those bitter tears once, but it was a long time ago. He was one and his grandfather had died. But he didn't know that at the time.

Stella's parents never lived to see their grandchildren. They didn't even live to see Stella's senior year. They had died a few days after she completed eleventh grade. She lived with a friend until she got an apartment.

Rico didn't know what to do and simply held his father for comfort.

"DADDY!" Rikki screamed, followed by a bark from the dog.

The dog only barked if the puppy was being noisy or if the kids were in danger.

Mary entered the room to find Rikki sitting up in bed with the dog's face buried in her chest. She cried into Gracie's fur.

"Daddy?" Rikki said.

"It's Grandma, sweetie." Mary answered.

Rikki held her arms up and was scooped into a hug by her grandmother. Mary took the child into the living room and placed her next to her brother and father. Rikki held her father's arm and cried into her brother's shirt. Rico didn't care at all that his shirt was getting wet.

The phone rang and was answered by Mary. "No, this is Mary Blue…no, I'm her mother in law…my son and grandchildren are present…yes I saw the news…that is the description…thank you for calling…" She looked over at Rex. "Would you like to speak to them?"

Rex nodded. Rico and Rikki sat on the couch while their father took the phone into the other room.

"Grandma?" Rikki said.

"Hmm?"

"Do we have to see her?"

"At the funeral, yes. But you don't have to see her body…well, you're blind in any case."

"I see." Rico said.

"No darling, you're a child-"

"My mom." He said fiercely.

"I know, but-"

"Please." He said.

Mary looked at her grandson. He had a look on his face of determination. Rico looked more mature than three years old.

They stared into each other's eyes. Rico didn't break contact like a three year old would.

"Alright, but I'm going to hold you." Mary said.

"Fine." Rico said with a smile.

"I want to be there too. I know I can't see her, but she sees me." Rikki said. "If she can't see me then she'll be sad."

Mary chuckled lightly at the four year old logic. "Alright, dear."

A week later, the funeral was held for Stella.

The open casket viewing took place a few hours prior to the burial.

Rex held Rikki and Mary held Rico as they approached the casket. Stella looked like she'd fallen asleep after getting sunburned. They did a nice job of dressing her wounds and covering her burns. She looked paler in death and strange because she usually didn't wear a lot of makeup. She had to be covered in it because her face was burned as well.

"Bye mom." Rikki whispered. Rex had turned Rikki's head in the direction of Stella's face.

Rico stared at her. Mary allowed him to touch her.

Rico felt her cold face and touched her arm. He squeezed it for a second as if hoping to find a pulse and then he let go. His expression was hard to read. He looked down at his own hand to find some of the makeup had come off onto it; he smiled and closed his hand.

"Bye." He said hoarsely.

A very kind priest had come up to say a few words, not that Rico and Rikki understood.

Afterwards, the kids were near the fountain outside while Rex and Mary spoke to different people.

Rico wandered back inside the church and found a bowl of water. He was about to dip his hand in when someone grabbed his wrist. It was the priest.

"We don't want to spill the Holy water, do we?" He said. He wasn't angry, he seemed amused.

"Sorry." Rico said.

"That's quite alright, young man. This water is not for playing, but the fountain is alright to touch as long as you don't fall in."

Rico smiled and ran back out to join his sister. He decided to put his hands in the fountain instead.

As the years passed, Rex attempted to work and raise his children with some help from Talia's son who was a close friend of the family. Although they never had that much money, they tried their best to compensate.

Once they had caught wind of Talia's sister dying, the Blue family sadly let him go. He came back as often as he could, but had to find support since the only family he had left were Rex, Rico, Rikki, and Mary.

Rex eventually found another wife, though he never loved her quite the same as he'd loved Stella and she was alright with that. She was frightened of Rico. She hadn't thought he killed his mother, but thought that he would act out aggressions towards the family. And he had once, but it was for good reason. Some of the kids had insulted his mother. The only one who stood up for him were Rikki and a kid named Rodney Jackson who had been the son of the former principal. The main duo who insulted and threw things at Rikki were a set of identical twins: The Vesuvius twins.

Rico had snapped one day and pummeled one of the twins.

His stepmother never looked at him the same way again. She almost left when an incident happened about a month before Rico came to New York.

She had found Rico licking a knife. Without processing anything in her brain, she screamed and called the police.

They weren't amused to find that he'd been spreading ketchup on his hamburger.

She had him undergo an expensive psychology test which showed that he had higher aggression levels than most kids his age. She also noticed some strange things which the doctor dismissed as part of being a teenager with mixed feelings being raised without his birth mother. To this day, only Rex and Rikki knew the importance of some things Rico kept.

Rico always kept the sock that his mother had been wearing that day and a shell in it. The shell was plain and uninteresting, but it meant the world to Rico. It was the memory of the last time she'd taken him to the beach. Rikki and Rex were having a father-daughter day and Stella wanted to take Rico somewhere special.

She took him to a carnival and then to the beach. They'd spent more money than they needed, but Stella had always thought it was worth it to have fun with her baby. Rico had eaten a whole mess of junk food and nutritional food, but never threw up. She told him he would be amazing and that one day everyone would see Rico as he was.

Rico never wanted to let her go.

***KOWALSKI NARRATION***

**As I said earlier, everyone was asked before this story began. All four of us shared our secrets, shames, laughs and more. There are other secrets to know, but they will come in due time. Yes, Rico and Rikki told us about their mother. She was a wonderful woman who always had a smile ready when you felt down. Just in case it wasn't clear, Talia's son traveled between his aunt in New York and his mother in Missouri. He refused to leave New York even after his mother and aunt's deaths. His role in the story will be more prominent later; I just hope you remember who Talia Harrison was.**

**And for those of you wondering, my story shall be revealed as well. Kenny and I are ready to share now. **

**END NARRATION**


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